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COUNT CAMILLO CAVOUR. 



ITALY 



STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 



OR, 



^ ^edofd of f^i^on-iirieiit l<vei\t^ 



IN ITS 



Civil, Religious, and Literary History, 



^rottt t^e CommtntemjHi of lljt Cbnsliait €xu ta t^t ^itstnt ^sg. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



By rev. H. H. FAIRALL, D. D. 









CINCINNATI: 
HITCHCOCK AND WALDEN. 

1880. 



Tr 



J 

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, 

BY H. H. FAIRALL, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



i i>J 



^t 



CON T E NT S . 

PAGAN DARKNESS DISPELLED. 

CENTURY I-Vf. 



CHAPTER I 

THE DAWN IN ITALY. 

PAGE. 

Early Tribes — Various Titles — Pagan Worship — Its Degrading Influence — The 
Christian Church in Rome — Paul in the Eternal City — The Cruel Reign of 
Nero — The Martyrdom of Paul — The Prosperity of Italy under the Adminis- 
trations of Vespasian and Titus — The Christians persecuted in the Reign of 
Domitian — The Benevolent and Tolerant Nerva, 9 

CHAPTER II. 

PAGAN DARKNESS DISAPPEARING. 

Italy Peaceful and Prosperous during the Administrations of Trajan, Hadrian, and 
Antoninus — The Persecution of Christians permitted by Marcus Aurelius — The 
Emperor impressed by a Remarkable Circumstance — The Corrupt Reign of 
Commodus — Pertinax deposed and murdered — Septimius Severus on the 
Throne — The Rapid Progress of Christianity in Italy — Paganism declining — 
The Testimony of the Martyrs, 16 

CHAPTER HI. 

THE LIGHT SHINING IN ITALY. 

The Short Reign of Heliogabalus — ^The Benevolent Alexander Severus — The Con- 
dition of Italy under Maximinus, Gordian, Philip, and Decius — Paganism 
endeavoring to exterminate the Italian Christians — The Unimportant Adminis- 
trations of Gallus, ^milianus, Valerian, and Claudius — The Brilliant Reign of 
Aurelian — Tacitus assumes the Imperial Purple — He is followed by Probus, 
Carus, Carinus, and Numerianus — The Reign of Diocletian inaugurates a New 
Period — The Authority of the Government strengthened — Christianity rapidly 
advancing in Italy — The Church in the Catacombs, 23 

I - CHAPTER IV. 

PAGANISM OVERTHROWN IN ITALY. 

Diocletian issues a Persecuting Edict against the Christians — He and Maximian 
abdicate — Galerius and Constantius rule Italy — Constantine defeats Maxentius, 

V 



VI CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

and becomes Emperor — The Luminous Cross and the Conversion of Constantine — 
Christianity becomes tlie National Religion — The Religious Devotion of Con- 
stantine — The Bishop of Rome — Disgraceful Contentions — The Italian Church 
gradually becoming Formal, Superstitious, and Corrupt — The Practice of Monk- 
ery — Ecclesiastical Councils — The Doctrines of the Church — Translation of 
Relics — The Power and Wealth of the Clergy, 29 

CHAPTER V. 

AMBROSE — THE WALDENSES. 

The Independence of the Diocese of Milan — The Birth of Ambrose — His Education 
and Promotion — Elected Bishop of Milan — The Conversion of Augustine — The 
Evangelical Views of Ambrose — His Writings and Musical Compositions — The 
Origin of the Waldenses — Various Theories — The Testimony of Jerome — The 
Waldenses in the Fourth Century — The Testimony of their Enemies 36 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE GOTHS IN ITALY. 

Alaric invades Italy — His Forces induced to retire — The Martyr Telemachus — The 
Vandal Invasion — Alaric returns to Italy and pillages Rome — His Death and 
Burial — Attiha, King of the Huns, invades Northern Italy and destroys Several 
Cities — Rome plundered by Genseric, the Vandal King of Africa — The Emperor 
Maximus slain — Eight Sovereigns reign in Twenty Years — Odoacer proclaimed 
King of Italy, 41 



Sclllt 11. 

PAPAL DARKNESS PREVALENT. 



CEXTUKX VI-XIV. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE REIGN OF THE LOMBARDS. 
It^aly Tranquil and Flourishing — The Administration of Theodoric — Boethius slain — 
Amalsontha — Theodatus — Viteges — The Great General Belisarius — Totila cap- 
tures Rome — The Gothic Power destroyed in Italy — The Lombard King. 
Audoin — His Conquests and Death — Clepho — Chilperic, the Frankish King, 
enters Italy — Authauris — Childebert — Gregory the Great — Benedict — Origin of 
the Benedictines, 45 

CHAPTER II. 

ITALY IN PAPAL DARKNESS. 

Tho Deplorable Condition of Italy — The Industrious Benedictines — Boniface IV — 
Religious Disputes — Monophysites and Monothelites — Pope Martin I perse- 
cuted — The Sixth General Council — The Claim of Agatho to Supremacy — Su- 
perstitious Views of tlie Sacraments and Pilgrimages — Festivals in Honor of the 
Virgin Mary — The Pantheon, $1 



CONTENTS. VII 

CHAPTER III. 

ITALY UNDER PRANKISH RULE. 

PAGE, 

Leo III and Pope Gregory II — The Iconoclastic War — Eutychius — Luitprand — 
Charles Martel — Pepin enters Italy and defeats Astolph — The Pope of Rome 
becomes a Temporal Ruler — Desiderius conquered by Charlemagne — The Latter 
crowned King of Italy — The Flight of Pope Leo III, 54 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE PROTEST OF CLAUDIUS. 

Claudius of Turin — He denounces the Errors of the Papacy — The Prevalenee of 
Image -worship — The writings of Claudius — His Views of the Sacrament, the 
Primacy of Peter, etc. — Claudius sustained by Bishops and Syriods — The False 
Accusations of his Enemies — The Trial of Leo III — Charlemagne receives the 
Crown of the Csesars — Louis the Mild — Lothaire — Leo IV — Pope Joan — Various 
Pontiffs — The Assumed Decretals, 59 

^ CHAPTER V. 

RISE OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS. 

The Death of Charles the Fat — Various Rulers and Popes — Alberic restores Repub- 
lican Institutions in Rome — Otho III overthrows Popular Government — His 
Death — Liberty enjoyed in Rome and Other Italian Cities — The Wealthy and 
Powerful Re23ublics of Venice, Pisa, and Genoa — Four Emperors — Gregory VII 
and Henry IV— The Normans, 66 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE STRUGGLES OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS. 

The War of Investitures— Henry V and Pascal II— The End of the Conflict— The 
Normans in Southern Italy — The Cities of Lombardy Independent — The Strong 
Republics oppress the Weak — The Struggle between Milan and Lodi — Frederic 
Barbarossa in Italy — The "Lombard League," 72 

CHAPTER VH. 

ARNOLD OF BRESCIA. 

Arnold's Proposed Reforms — He is condemned and banished — The Bold Reformer 
returns to Rome — The City in a Tumult — Arnold denounces the Prevailing 
Corruptions — The Hero's Martyrdom, 82 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE FRANCISCANS AND DOMINICANS. 

Legends of St. Francis's Birth — The Monk in Rome — He is commissioned by Inno- 
cent III to establish a Mendicant Order — Its Growth — St. Dominic visits 
Rome — The Work and Garb of the Dominicans — The Grandeur of their Con- 
vents — Prominent Italian Writers — Thomas Aquinas — Bonaventura, Z'J 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE GUELFS AND GHIBELINES. 

The Claims of the Popes — The Papal Power increasing — Origin of Guelfs and 
Ghibelines — Otho IV — Frederic, Honorius, and Gregory — The Capture of the 



VIII CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Papal Fleet — Celesline IV — Innocent IV — The -Italian Republics — Conrad — 
Manfred, 95 

CHAPTER X. 

THE GROWTH OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS. 

The Wealth and Military Defenses of Italian Cities — The Podestas — Factions and 

Feuds — Giovanni di Vicenza, HO 

CHAPTER XI. 

DECLINE OF THE IMPERIAL POWER IN ITALY. 

Eccelino da Romano — Conradin — Manfred — Urban IV — The Defeat and Death 
of Conradin — The Ambitious Charles — Dissensions in Milan — Castruccio 
Castrucani, 118 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE DOCTRINES AND USAGES OF THE WALDENSES. 

The Waldensian Theology — The '*Nobla Leycon " — The "Lingua Romana" — 

The Synods and Clergy — Waldensian Missionaries, 1 27 



PAPAL DARKNESS RELIEVED. 



CENTURY XIV-XIX. 



CHAPTER I. 

ITALY DURING THE PAPAL SCHISM. 

Robert, King of Naples — Nicola di Rienzi — The Bannerets — Electing a Pontiff- 
Urban VI — The Rival Popes, 133 

CHAPTER II. 

THE REVIVAL OF LETTERS IN ITALY, 

Dante — His Poetical Works — The "Divina Commedia " — Dante on the Papacy — 
Petrarch — His Letter to Clement VI — Laura de Sade — Petrarch's Character 
and Writings — Boccaccio — His Poems — The ** Decamerone," 137 

CHAPTER IIL 

WARS OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS. 

A Crisis in Lombardy — The Power and Wealth of Venice- -Its Wars with Milan — 
Florence — Its Government — Cosmo de Medici — The Milanese defeated by the 
Florentines and Venetians — Various Popes, 152 



CONTENTS. IX 

CHAPTER IV. 

SAVONAROLA — MICHAEL ANGELO — RAPHAEL. 

PAGE. 

Girolamo Savonarola — Accepts the Monastic Life — Admired by Lorenzo de Med- 
ici — Accomplishes Reforms — The Fiery Trial — Savonarola's Martyrdom — His 
Character — Michael Angelo — His Works — Raphael — Other Distinguished 
Italians, 157 

CHAPTER V. 

FIRST PERSECUTIONS OF THE WALDENSES. 

The Tragedy of Pragelas — Cataneo's Expedition — The Fearful Massacre — the Inva- 
ders defeated, 169 

CHAPTER VI. 

FAILURE OF CATANEO'S EXPEDITION. 

The Val di Angrogna — Cataneo repulsed — The Pra del Tor — The White Cloud — 

Captain Sacquet — The Humane Prince, Charles II, l8i 

CHAPTER VII. 

LUTHER'S JOURNEY TO ROME. 

The Monk on his Pilgrimage — An Italian Monastery — Luther in Florence — The 
Campagna — Luther in Rome — The Prevailing Impiety — The Church of the 
Lateran — Scala Santa, 187 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE PAPACY AND ITALY. t 

Pope Julius II — Leo X — The Corruptions of the Papal Court — Indifference and 

Skepticism — The Patriotic Spirit, 201 

CHAPTER IX. 

ITALY RECEIVING LIGHT FROM GERMANY. 

The Reuchlin Controversy — Luther's Writings in Italy — Protestant Books in — 

Rome — Egidio di Porta — Baltasare Fontana, 207 

CHAPTER X. 

SACRED LITERATURE IN ITALY. * 

Various Italian Scholars — ^The Writings of Pico — Authors of Hebrew Works — 

Italian Commentators and Translators, 213 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE REFORMATION EXTENDED BY COMMERCE AND WAR. 

The Intercourse between Germany and Italy — Charles V in Italy — His Controversy 

with Clement VII — Rome pillaged — Terrible Scenes — The Reformation, . . . 223 

CHAPTER XIL 

THE REFORMATION IN VENICE. 

The Condition of Venice Favorable to the Gospel — Luther's Writings circulated — 

Rosselli's Letter — Protestantism advancing — Altieri's Letter, 233 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

MILAN RECEIVING THE GOSPEL. 

PACK. 

Paul III alarmed at the Progress of the Reformation — Celio Secundo Curio — His 

Arrest and Imprisonment — His Remarkable Escape, 239 

CHAPTER XIV. 

MANTUA — LOCARNO — ISTRIA — FERRARA. 

The Gospel in Mantua — Folengo — Cardinal Gonzaga — The Reformation in Lo- 
carno — Beccaria and Other Reformers — Islria receives Protestantism — Ver- 
gerio — The Court of Ferrara — Duchess Renee — She favors the Reformation, . 242 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE PROTESTANT CAUSE IN MODENA. 

The Academy at Modena — Controversy with the Priests — Paolo Ricio — Giovanni 

di Politiano — Cardinal Morone, 252 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE REFORMATION IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ITALY. 
Florence as a Literary Center — Brucioli, Marmochini, and Teofilo — The Writings of 
Brucioli — The Reformation in Bologna — John MoUio — A Reform Commission — 
Protestantism in Naples — Juan di Valdez — Peter INIartyr Vermigli — Bernardino 
Ochino — His Popularity in Venice — The Gospel in Sicily and Lucca — Aonio 
Paleario, 257 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE INQUISITION AT VENICE, MODENA, AND FERRARA. 

Pietro Caraffa— The Flight of Ochino and Martyr— The "Holy Office "—The Con- 
flict at Modena — Protestants persecuted — Valentino — Trial of Castelvetro — 
Protestantism at Ferrara — Duchess Renee, 280 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

PERSECUTION IN NORTHERN ITALY. 

The Firmness of Duchess Renee — Her Character — Her Children — Persecution in 
Venice — Altieri banished — Terrible Scenes in Capo d'Istria — Flight of Ver- 
gerio — The Martyrs of Venice — Guirlanda, Ricetto, Sega, Spinula, and Lupe- 
tino — Persecutions in Cremona, Parma, and Faenza, 297 

CHAPTER XIX. 

THE CRUELTIES OF THE PAPAL INQUISITION. 
The Sufferings and Banishment of the Locarnese Protestants — Persecutions in 
Lucca, Mantua, Milan, Florence, and Sienna — The Reign of Terror in Naples 
and Calabria — Wholesale Slaughter, 311 

CHAPTER XX. 

ITALIAN MARTYRS. 
The Cruel Reign of Pius V — ^Jacobini, Fannio, and Mollio — Algieri, Gamba, and 
Varaglia — ^The Imprisonment and Martyrdom of Paschale — Carnesecchi, Pa- 
leario, and Beatrice Cenci, 335 



CONTENTS. XI 

CHAPTER XXI. 

ITALIAN RULERS AND POETS. 

PAGE. 

The Italian Reformation suppressed — Death of Lorenzo de Medici — Alexander VI 
succeeds Innocent VITI — Ludovico Sforza — Pietro de Medici — Charles VIII of 
France — Decline of the Genoese Republic — Death of Leo X — Charles, Arch- 
duke of Austria — Andrea Doria— Ludovico Ariosto — Torquato Tasso — Various 
Italian Writers — Niccola Macchiavelli — His Diplomatic and Literary Career* — 
Political Writers, 355 

CHAPTER XXII. 

SYNOD IN THE WALDENSIAN VALLEYS. 

The Vaudois Church declining in Spirituality — The Synod at Chamforans — The 

Waldenses revived — Delegates from Switzerland, 365 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE WALDENSIAN REMONSTRANCES. 

Emmanuel Philibert's Decree — Persecution at Carignano — Remonstrance to the 

Prince — To the Queen — To the Council, 372 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE PAPAL CRtrSADE IN THE VALLEYS. 

The Vaudois Messenger — The Monks of Pinerolo — Philip of Savoy — A IMonk's 
Sermon — La Trinita invades the "Valleys" — The Enemy repulsed — Deception 
and Persecution — The Vaudois Covenant — The Defeat of La Trinita's Army — 
" Articles of Capitulation," 377 

CHAPTER XXV. 

DISTINGUISHED PONTIFFS — PROMINENT SCHOLARS. 

Clement VIII — He is resisted by the Venetians — Paul V and the Venetians — 
Urban VIII — Various Pontiffs — Galileo — His Imprisonment — Torricelli — Bo- 
relli — Malpighi — Sarpi — Pallavicini, 394 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE FAMINE— THE PLAGUE — THE MASSACRE. 

The Vaudois aided by Foreign Contributions — Castocaro's Tyranny — The Fearful 
Pestilence — The Duchess Christina — The Inquisition at Work — Marchioness di 
Pianeza — The Exiles — Pianeza's Treachery — The Awful Massacre — Cromwell's 
Interposition, 399 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

GIANAVELLO — THE MASSACRE — THE EXILES. 

The Mountains of La Combe — Joshua Gianavello — The Deceptive Pianeza — Giai>- 
avello's Bravery — Massacre of the Vaudois — Their Courage — Cromwell's Let- 
ter — The Cruel Edict of Amndeus — The Exiled Vaudois, 417 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE RETURN OF THE WALDENSES. 

The Exiles looking Homeward — Preparations for Departure — Henri Arnaud — The 

Waldenses Victorious — The Sabbath at Prali — Leidet's Pulpit, 427 



XII CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE WALDENSES RE-ESTABLISHED IN THEIR VALLEYS. 

PAGB. 

The Vaudois at Bobbio and the "Rock, of Sibaud " — Arnaud's Warriors on La 
Balsiglia — The Giant Alps — Supplies for the Vaudois — Catinat defeated — 
French Cannonading — The "Old Mantle" covers the Vaudois, 434 

CHAPTER XX:t. 

FOREIGN RULE IN ITALY — PROMINENT POPES AND WRITERS. 

Italy under Austrian Rule — Philip V of Spain — Prince Eugene of Savoy — The 
French and Spanish defeated — Victor Amadeus II and the Vaudois — Charles 
Emmanuel III — The Spanish Power — Clement XT — Benedict XIII — Clements 
XII, XIII, and XIV — The Jesuits suppressed — Alfieri and other Eminent 
Italians in Art, Science, and Literature, 442 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE FRENCH CAMPAIGN IN ITALY. 

Bonaparte's Victories in Italy — Overthrow of the Venetian Republic — The Cisalpine, 
Ligurian, Cispadane, Tiberine, and Parthenopasan Republics — The French 
Reverses in Italy 452 



PAPAL DARKNESS DISAPPEARING. 

CENTURY XIX. 



First Decade, 1800-1810. 
CHAPTER L 

ITALY UNDER FRENCH RULE. 

The Conflict in Ital)^ — The Passage of the Alps by Napoleon's Army — The French 

Victory at Marengo — Napoleon's Supremacy complete, 458 

Second Decade, 1810-1820, 
CHAPTER H. 

BIRTH OF CAVOUR — ITALY OPPRESSED — GARIBALDI. 
The Birth and Childhood of Cavour — The French Rule in Italy overlhrown — The 
Despotic Power of Austria — Pius VII restores the Jesuits — Giuseppe Gari- 
baldi — His Education — The Young Sailor, 461 

Third Decade, 1820-1830. 
CHAPTER III. 

JOSEPH MAZZINI AND THE CARBONARI. 

The Liberal Movement in Naples and Piedmont — Charles Felix — Young Mazzini 

aroused — His Writings — Initiated into Carbonarism, 469 



CONTENTS. XIII 

Third Decade, Continued, 1820-1830. 
CHAPTER IV. 

THE WALDENSES — COLONEL BECKWITH— THE PAPACY. 

PAGE. 

Education in the "Valleys" — Aid from Philanthropists — Colonel Beckwith — His 

Work among the Waldenses — Their Condition — Leo XH — Pius VHI, . . . 479 

Fourth Decade, 1830-1840. 
CHAPTER V. 

THE ITALIAN REVOLUTION — "YOUNG ITALY." 

The Insurrection in Various Cities — Its Suppression by Austria — Mazzinl — His Ar- 
rest and Imprisonment — His Release and Retirement to France — Visits Sis- 
mondi — His Flight to Corsica — Returns to France — His Letter to Charles 
Albert — "Young Italy" — Its Failure — "Young Europe" — Mazzini in Eng- 
land, 483 

Fourth Decade, Continued, 1830-1840. 
CHAPTER VI. 

THE WALDENSES — GREGORY XVI — GARIBALDI. 

Dr. Baird's Visit to the Waldenses — Their Usages and Doctrines — Colonel Beck- 
with's Efforts — Gregory XVI — The Degradation of Italy — Garibaldi's Career 
in South America, 497 

Fifth Decade, 1840-1850. 
CHAPTER VII. 

MAZZINI IN EXILE — THE BANDIERAS. 

Mazzini collects Foscolo's Writings— Carlyle's Opinion of Mazzini — AttliJio and 

Emilio Bandiera — Their Expedition, Arrest, and Execution, ....... 502 

Fifth Decade, Continued, 1840-1850, 
CHAPTER VIII. 

CAMILLO CAVOUR — THE CRISIS IN ITALY. 

Cavour's Policy — Piedmontese Reverses — The Condition of Europe— Various Poli- 
cies proposed — Charles Albert abdicates — Victor Emmanuel, 508 

Fifth Decade, Continued, 1840-1850. 
CHAPTER IX. 

ALESSANDRO GAVAZZI — PIUS IX — GIOBERTI, 

Gavazzi as a Monk, Professor, and Priest — Nicoliui on Romanism — Gavazzi's Ser- 
mon in Rome — His Imprisonment — The Italians aroused — The Patriotic 
Army — Ovation to Gavazzi — His Bravery — Welcomed to Bologna — Pius IX 
abandons his Liberal Policy — Daniel Manin — Gioberti — His Writings, . . , 521 

Fifth Decade, Continued, 1840- 1850. 
CHAPTER X. 

THE ROMAN REPUBLIC OVERTHROWN — GARIBALDI — ANTONELLI. 

Garibaldi returns to Italy — Pius IX at Gaeta — Provisional Government in Rome — 
The French Repulsed — A Sjiirited Proclamation — Tlie Nenpolilans defeated — 
The Fall of Rome— Garibaldi and Anna— Sketch -of Anlonelli, 538 



XIV CONTENTS. 

Sixth Decade, 1850-1860. 
CHAPTER XL 

THE POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CAVOUR. 

PAGE. 

Cavour and Rattazzi — Cavour's Proposed Reforms — Massimo D'Azeglio — Parties in 

Parliament — Cavour's Resignation — Visits France and England, 566 

Sixth Decade, Continued, 1850-1860. 
CHAPTER Xn. 

THE POLICY OF CAVOUR. 

Cavour as President — Financial and Commercial Reforms — Cavour's Religious 

Policy— His Liberal Views — Denounced by Factions — Public Works, .... 579 

Sixth Decade, Continued, 1850-1860. 
CHAPTER XIH. 

OPENING OF THE NATIONAL DRAMA IN I^ALY. 

Piedmont and the Crimean War — The Treaty of Alliance — Cavour's Anxiety- 
Bravery of the Italian Troops — The Congress at Paris — Death of Manin — Ca- 
vour's Triumph — The Alliance at Plombieres, 594 

Sixth Decade, Continued, 1850-1860. 
CHAPTER XIV. 

ITALY BEFORE AND AFTER THE PEACE OF VILLAFRANCA. 

The Italian Question — Cavour and Nnpoleon III — Austria's Rashness — War de- 
clared — Cavour's Labors — Battle of Montebello — Palestro — Magenta — The 
Austrians defeated — The Battle of Solferino — Peace of Villafranca — Cavour 
resigns, 615 

Seventh Decade, 1860-1870. 
CHAPTER XV. 

\ THE ANNEXATIONS — THE REVOLUTION IN SICILY. 

Cavour resumes the Premiership — Tuscany and Emilia annexed to Piedmont — Ces- 
sion of Savoy and Nice — Debate in Parliament — Cavour's Reply to Rattazzi 
and Guerrazzi — Garibaldi's Expedition to Sicily — Francis II defeated — Naples 
suiTenders, 634 

Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 
CHAPTER XVI. 

CAVOUR AND THE UNITY OF ITALY. 

The Sardinian Parliament — Victor Emmanuel proclaimed "King of Italy"- — The 

Roman Question — Father Passaglia — Cavour and the "Temporal Power," . . 644 

Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 
CHAPTER XVII. 

cavour's POLICY VICTORIOUS — THE STATESMAN'S DEATH. 
The Situation in Southern Italy — Cavour's Arduous Labors — Garibaldi's Caustic 
Addresses — Ricasoli's Reply — Garibaldi's vSpeech in Parliament — Cavour's Re- 
joinder — His Sickness and Death — General Sorrow — Cavour's Appearance, . . 650 



CONTENTS. XV 

Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 
CHAPTER XVIII. 

WALDENSIAN MISSIONS IN ITALY. 

PAGE, 

The Bible in Italy — The Waldensian Church — lis Theological School — The Leg- 
horn Mission — Romish Opposilion — Letters of Drs. Revel and M'Clinlock — 
The Gospel in Milan, Aosta, Elba, and Naples — Gavazzi visits England, , . 665 

Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 
CHAPTER XIX. 

ITALIAN MISSIONS OF THE "AMERICAN AND FOREIGN CHRISTIAN UNION." 

The Society sends a Missionary to Florence — Work commenced" in the Island of 

Elba — The Story of Francesco and Rosa Madiai — Papal Intolerance, .... 684 

Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 
CHAPTER XX. 

THE ITALIAN CABINET— GARIBALDI — PROTESTANT WORK. 

Rattazzi's Administration — Garibaldi preparing for War — The Hero wounded — The 
Italians aroused — Protestant Literature — Evangelical Missions — Death of Gen- 
eral Beckwith, 688 

Seventh Decade, Continued, 1850-1870. 
CHAPTER XXI. 

THE BRIGANDS — THE LIBERAL PRIESTS — MISSIONS. 

Brigandage encouraged by the Papal Church — Garibaldi Resigns — Liberal Priests 

proscribed — Waldensian Synod — The Wesleyan Mission, 697 

Seventh Decade. Continued, 1860-1870. 
CHAPTER XXII. 

THE ROMAN QUESTION — THE ITALIAN PRESS. 

Garibaldi — Religious Corporations suppressed — The "September" Convention — 

The Press — Conflict of Ideas — Liberal Papers criticising the Priests, .... 705 

Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 
CHAPTER XXIII. 

RELIGIOUS PARTIES IN ITALY — THE PAOLOTTI. 

The Views of the Three Parties — The Writings of Gabelli, de Boni, and Perfetti — 

The Paolotti — -Their Perfect Organization and Power, 717 

Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 
CHAPTER XXIV. 

PROTESTANT MISSIONS ADVANCING. 

The Prospect in Northern Italy — Preaching in a Monastery — The Converted Su- 
perior — Reports from Como, Milan, Sienna, etc., 727 

Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 
CHAPTER XXV. 

EVANGELICAL WORK IN ITALY. 

The Valtellina — Colporteurs persecuted — The Mission at Carrara — The Avaricious 
Priest — The Labors of Don Ambrogio — Gavazzi in Milan — The Italian Free 
Clnirches — Various Missions — Religious Parties in Parliament, 73S 



XVI CONTENTS: 

Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 
CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE DEFEAT OF AUSTRIA — ITALY ANNEXES VENETIA. 

PAGE. 

Italy declares War against Austria — Victor Emmanuel's Proclamation — His Address 

to the Venetians — Tlie Circular of Ricasoli, 753 

Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 
CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE ROMAN QUESTION — PROTESTANT MISSIONS. 

Garibaldi's Expedition against Rome— A Proposed Conference — The Parliament — 

Various Evangelical Missions — Burning Protestestant Books, 760 

Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 

PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT — EVANGELICAL MISSIONS — PAPAL COUNCIL. 

Protest against FrencJi Intervention at Rome — The Gospel in Central and North- 
ern Italy — The Life and Laljors of De Sanctis — (Ecumenical Council, . . . 766 

Eighth Decade, 1870-1880. 
CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE "FREE CHURCH"— THE KING IN ROME — PROTESTANT MISSIONS. 

The "Free Church" Assembly — Declaration of Principles — Papal Council — Victor 

Emmanuel in Rome — Entrance of the Gospel — Several Missions Organized, . 777 

^ Eighth Decade, Continued, 1870-1880. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

THE GREAT DEBATE — WALDENSIAN CONFERENCE — GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 

A Remarkable Discussion — Italian Bible Society — Gavnzzi in America — Death of 

Mazzini — Waldensian Conference — Free Church Assembly, 790 

Eighth Decade, Continued, 1870-1880. 
CHAPTER XXXI. 

VARIOUS RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL EVENTS. 

The "Military Church" in Rome — Missions in Florence and Rome — Religious 

Corporations abolished — Roman Catholic Congress — Mrs. Gould's Work, . . 795 

Eighth Decade, Continued, 1870-1880. 
CHAPTER XXXII. 

RELIGIOUS PROCESSIONS PROHIBITED — AMERICAN METHODIST MISSIONS. 

A Protestant Chapel dedicated — Religious Processions forbidden — Proposed Re- 
forms — Death of Anlonelli — Several Mission Stations, 810 

Eighth Decade, Continued, 1870-1880. 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 

VARIOUS EVANGELICAL MISSIONS — THE DECEASED KING AND POPE — CLOSING EVENTS OF 

THE DECADE. 

The Waldensian and Free Italian Churches — Gavazzi's Anniversary — Death of Vic- 
tor Emmanuel— Death of Pius IX — Leo XIII — Garibaldi in Rome — The End, 817 



INTRODUCTION. 



TTOR more than twenty-five centuries Italy has occupied a prom- 
■^ inent place among the nations of the world, and has been the 
theater of remarkable events. The geographical position of the 
Peninsula no doubt contributed to these results. Almost surrounded 
by the sea, situated between two hemispheres, and abounding in 
natural harbors, it attracted the nations and became the grand entre- 
pot of the world's commerce. This advantage of location secured 
wealth and power, and that small territory soon had universal 
dominion. 

No other country has a history more Interesting and thrilling than 
Italy. To the philosophical student of human events it is a profound 
volume. On that narrow strip of land projecting into the Mediter- 
ranean arose the fourth great monarchy described by the prophet 
Daniel, and in the "seven-hilled city," on the banks of the Tiber, 
stood the magnificent structures of the Roman civilization. Succeed- 
ing ages have read with wonder and even admiration the history of 
Rome and Its Caesars, whose dominion ruled the civilized world for 
twelve centuries. Not less remarkable in its character and effects 
is Papal Rome, whose career during the past thirteen centuries is 
unparalleled in the record of human affairs. In all the great historic 
epochs the central power In the renowned city of Italy has been a 
mighty factor in governing and civilizing the nations of the earth. 

Italy also presents instructive lessons for the consideration of the 
statesman who desires to study the science of government and the 
art of diplomacy. At different periods the Peninsula has been under 
monarchical and then under republican rule, and the peculiar fea- 
tures of each have been discussed in the intervening centuries by the 
political writers of all countries. In every age Italy has produced 



2 INTRODUCTION. 

Statesmen, but none surpass the illustrious Cavour, Victor Emman- 
uel, Ricasoli, and D'Azeglio. 

Those who admire martial deeds \\'^\ find on the pages of Italian 
history the names of distinguished generals, whose valor Avill be com- 
mended Avhile bravery is esteemed an honor and patriotism remains 
a virtue. The popular belief that the sons of the Peninsula are 
effeminate and incapable of military hardships is not sustained by the 
record. If the achievements of Scipio, Sylla, Caesar, and other 
ancient heroes had never been preserved, the daring exploits of 
Garibaldi, La Marmora, and Cialdini, and the glorious victories of 
Magenta and Solferino, would shed imperishable lustre upon the 
escutcheon of that sunny land. 

Although crushed by the worst form of political and ecclesiastical 
despotism, Italy has been the home of the champions of freedom. 
Hence the friends of liberty delight to repeat the names and read 
the lives of such noble patriots as Brutus, Cato, Arnaldo,' Rienzi, 
Savonarola, and Mazzini, who were the apostles of a new faith, if 
not the evangels of a new dispensation. It is a significant fact that 
the discoverer of what has become the "land of the free and the 
home of the brave" was a native of Genoa, in which the spirit of 
republicanism has always been predominant. 

In art, science, and literature — the trinity of a refined civiliza- 
tion — Italy stands pre-eminent. No other country has as many gal- 
leries of paintings and sculpture, and the influence of these has 
cultivated the taste and elevated the feelings of all enlightened 
nations. Its cathedrals, palaces, and villas are visited by lovers of 
fine art from every clime, who admire the proud and costly mon- 
uments of architecture like St. Peter's at Rome. Michael Angelo, 
Raphael, Giotto, Ghiberti, Bandinelli, Cehini, Canova, Titian, Tinto- 
retto, Paul Veronese, Salvator Rosa, Grassi, Benvenuti, and a host 
of other architects, artists, and sculptors have made the name of 
Italy illustrious. It will also be honored in its relations to scientific 
discovery, Galileo having invented the telescope to explore the heav- 
ens, and Gioja the magnetic needle to explore the earth. In nav- 
icration the labors of Columbus, Vespucci, and Marco Polo crown the 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

brow of Italy with a halo of glory, while Bruno, Malpighi, Torrlcelli, 
Bellini, Morgagni, Borelli, and others in the various departments of 
natural science reflect credit upon their native land. In literature 
Italy shines as a star of the first magnitude in the galaxy of nations. 
The productions of Virgil, Cicero, Livy, Horace, Tacitus, and other 
celebrated writers have been perennial fountains of classic thought, 
enriching all modern languages and elevating the standard of culture. 
This age of intellectual activity passed away when the Roman empire 
fell, and the northern barbarians possessed the land of scholars. For 
centuries papal dogmas engrossed public attention and repressed all 
investigation ; but the great minds of Italy at last rebelled, and Dante, 
Petrarch, Tasso, Boccaccio, Macchiavelli, and others startled the 
ignorant ecclesiastics of Italy by their eloquent appeals in behalf of 
political and spiritual independence. 

Italy is a land of sacred interest to the Cliristian. Soon after the 
estabhshment of Christianity in Palestine it penetrated the country of 
the Caesars, and had its representatives in the imperial household. 
The great apostle to the Gentiles was brought in chains to Rome, 
preached the Gospel in his own hired house, and then suffered mar- 
tyrdom, baptizing the soil of a pagan nation Avith the blood of a 
noble saint. Then followed the ten fearful persecutions, during 
which multitudes of Christians were slain, and the remnant wor- 
shiped in the catacombs, whose dark, subterranean passages and 
significant inscriptions will ever impress the Christian world. The 
martyrs of Italy in the sixteenth century have been canonized in the 
hearts of every Protestant, and no more thrilling chapter can be 
found in the history of the Christian Church than that which records 
the labors of Peter Martyr, Ochino, Paleario, Paschale, Carnesecchi, 
Fannio, and other worthies. 

In the present volume the author has narrated in chronological 
order, as far as possible, the prominent events, political and relig- 
ious, in the modern history of Italy. He has commenced with the 
Christian era, because not until the introduction of Christianity into 
that country did the real struggle between the conservative and pro- 
gressive elements of society become manifest. It will be apparent 

2 



4 INTRODUCTION, 

to the reader, in considering the many changes through which Italy 
has passed, that it has advanced into the h'ght or receded into the 
darkness according as it has maintained or corrupted the doctrines 
of Christianity. Equaht}', hberty, and fraternity are the fruits of 
the pure Gospel in society, and a nation can not reach the light of 
a true Christian civilization without them. For nearly nineteen cen- 
turies Italy has been moving slowly toward this grand destiny. 

During the first five centuries of the Christian era the Peninsula 
was a part of the vast Roman empire; but, upon the overthrow of 
the latter, it became a distinct kingdom. It had been struggling 
into a new religious light, and the luminous cross which Constantine 
beheld was prophetic of the complete banishment of pagan darkness. 
But a short day only intervened between the night of pagan and 
papal rule, and then followed eight centuries of ignorance and super- 
stition. Filicaja, an Italian poet, in his beautiful sonnet, extols the 
gift of loveliness possessed by his native land, but calls it a fatal 
dower, because it has tempted the invader and attracted armed hordes 
from the time of Hannibal's conquests down to those of Napoleon, 
The Goths, Vandals, Lombards, Franks, and Germans in succession 
ravaged the fair plains of Italy and subjugated its people. 

At length, however, these oppressions of foreign tyrants aroused 
the principal Italian cities, and they asserted their independence. 
This was the first struggle into the light of political freedom, and is 
a bright epoch in the history of that land. Those small republics 
were rich and powerful, and even at that early age the Peninsula 
might have been united under one free government had not the 
papacy, which acquired temporal possessions during the reign of 
Pepin, held Rome as its capital, and fomented jealousy between 
rival cities. From the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries the 
prevailing darkness was partly relieved by the lamps of the Renais- 
sance and the Reformation. The former was the awakening of the 
Italian intellect, and the latter the moving of the Italian heart. 

Another radiant center was the Waldensian Church, which had 
lighted its ancient lamp at apostolic altars and kept it burning in the 
Alpine valleys during that long night of papal ignorance. At differ- 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

ent periods the bloody hand of persecution endeavored to extinguish 
this Hght; but, amid the most terrible sufferings that any people ever 
experienced, the Waldenses maintained the truth of their significant 
motto: "Lux Lucet In Tenebris." The names of Arnaud, Leidet, 
Leger, and other heroes are indissolubly linked witlr those grand 
mountains, where marvelous deeds of valor were performed and the 
pure faith preserved. The Italian Reformation of the sixteenth cen- 
tury was suppressed by the Inquisition, the republics declined, and 
for two hundred years the Peninsula was ruled by Spain, Austria, 
and France. Soon after the dawn of the nineteenth century, Italy, 
profoundly moved by the French Revolution, and weary of its sub- 
jection to despotic governments, sighed for national independence 
and unity. The brilliant victories of Napoleon on its soil and the 
defeat of Austria aroused its patriotic spirit, and several republics 
were organized. 'Once more Italy struggled into the light of free- 
dom, but the overthrow of Napoleon resulted in the restoration of 
Austrian tyranny. It Avas too late, however, to crush the aspirations 
of an awakened people, which found expression in such organiza- 
tions as the ^'Carbonari'' and ''Young Italy." Mazzini, the fearless 
patriot and republican agitator, was the first to raise in the face of all 
Europe the banner of Italian unity. He gave to his native land a 
faith and a conscience. His motto was, "Thought and action;" his 
creed, "God and the people." He was the civil educator of the 
masses, the oracle of Italian liberals, and the symbol of the national 
energy and intelligence, working out the problem of the national 
regeneration. His was "the Titanic dream," as he himself says of 
Dante, "of an Italy the leader of humanity and the angel of liberty 
among the nations." Believing that he had a divine mission to fulfill, 
Mazzini labored to secure the triumph of his lofty ideal, though he 
sometimes employed means which were unworthy of himself and of 
his holy cause. 

The three decades — from 1850 to 1880 — are the most glorious in 
the history of Italy. During this short period more real progress 
has been made than in all the previous centuries. At last a bright 
morning has come to that oppressed country. The house of Savoy 



6 L\TJ^ OD UCTION. 

is honored with the inauguration of the new pohtical dispensation, 
because it had nourished the germ of freedom. In 1850 Victor 
Emmanuel occupied the tlu'one of Piedmont, when internal dissen- 
sions and European complications threatened to defeat all plans for 
Italian unity; but at the opportune moment Count Cavour, who 
became the Washington of his country, was appointed prime minis- 
ter. In ten )'ears, amid insult and opposition, he secured important 
reforms, and by his diplomacy placed Italy on a level with the great 
nations of Europe. He was in many respects the most remarkable 
man of his time, and ranks among the ablest statesmen of the w^orld. 
Italy, now united and prosperous, is his legacy, and he will ever be 
recognized as the "Father of his Country." 

During the past thirty years Italy has solved a problem which 
has troubled the nations for ten centuries — the temporal power of 
the papacy. Victor Emmanuel entered Rome in 1 870, and unfurled 
the tricolored flag from the Quirinal. Pope Pius IX became a sub- 
ject of the Italian government, and the reproach of Canossa was 
taken away. Fifteen centuries had ela^Dsed since Constantine left 
Rome, and Victor Emmanuel took possession of it. The Peninsula 
once more had its ancient and magnificent capital, and was united 
under one ruler from the Alps to the sea. The fruits of this recent 
political and ecclesiastical emancipation are already apparent. While 
Italy has always been distinguished for art, science, and literature, 
}'et in every age the masses of the people have not been intelligent 
and enterprising. Indeed, the lower classes w^ere proverbially igno- 
rant, few of them being able to read. No real progress in popular 
education was made until i860. As late as 1840 Tuscany and the 
Lombardo-Venetian kingdom were the only governments in Italy 
which provided instruction for all classes of youth. These few 
schools were generally taught by the priests, who were so indolent 
and inefficient that they wer^ called ignorantelli. 

In 1862, soon after the awakening of Italy, only one-half of the 
whole population in the old provinces and Lombardy were able to 
read, one-fourth in Emilia, Tuscany, the Marches, and Umbria, and 
one-tenth in Naples and Sicily. Although the Peninsula contained 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

about 21,000,000 inhabitants, not more than ^1,600,000 Avere spent 
in maintaining elementary instruction. In 1864 there were 21,000 
schools, attended by about 1,000,000 pupils. At the present time 
(1879) there are 37,642 public day schools, and 2,299,758 pupils; 
9,560 private schools, 193 normal schools, attended by 8,460 stu- 
dents, and in the department of secondary instruction 107 gymnasia 
with 9,296 pupils, and 80 lyceums with 5,132 pupils. The depart- 
ment of superior education embraces 17 state universities and 4 free 
universities supported by provinces and communes. These statistics 
indicate the recent advancement of Italy in the light of popular edu- 
cation, and are prophetic of its future greatness. The press has 
been emancipated, and contributes to the diffusion of general intelli- 
gence. In 1820 Silvio Pellico was imprisoned for publishing a literary 
journal entitled the Coiiciliatore^ and in company with Romagnosi, 
Maronchelli, and other able writers, endured years of cruel suffering 
in a gloomy dungeon; but now freedom of thought and speech is 
unrestricted. 

While new Italy rejoices in the possession of national unity, civil 
and religious liberty, improved educational facilities, a revived com- 
merce, a vigorous press, and other elements of greatness, yet its real 
prosperity and stability depend upon the success of the evangelical 
agencies now at work there. An open Bible and a restoration of 
the primitive Christianity first planted there by Paul are the hope 
of Italy. 

The author, after his return from that country several years ago, 
resolved to prepare a volume containing the prominent events in its 
civil, religious, and literary history. He has gathered his material 
from a wide field, and is indebted to such excellent authorities as 
Hallam's ** Middle Ages," Wylie's "History of Protestantism," 
M'Crie's '* Reformation in Italy," M'Cabe's ''Illustrated History of 
the World," Baird's ''Protestantism in Italy," De Mazade's "Life 
of Cavour, and Dwight's "Life of Garibaldi." 

Iowa City, Iowa, December i, 1879. 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



f^krt I. 

PAGAN DARKNESS DISPELLED. 

CENTURY l-VI. 



Chapter L 

THE DAWN IN ITALY. 



THE early history of Italy is closely connected with that of the 
Roman Empire. Among the earliest inhabitants of the country 
were the Umbrians, Etruscans or Tuscans, Oscans, Siculi or Latins, 
Volsci, ^qui, Sabines, Peligni, Marsi, Marrucini, Vestini, Hernici, 
Qlnotrians, Daunians or Apulians, Japyges, Peucetii, and Messapii. 
These and many other barbarous tribes lived in the northern part of 
the peninsula, and various Grecian colonies in the southern, which 
was called *' Magna Graecia. " The Greek appellation of ''Hesperia, " 
or ''Hesperia Magna," which was applied to the whole region, was 
replaced by the name "Italy." The latter was at first employed to 
designate a small southern portion of the peninsula, but gradually 
extended to the north until the time of Augustus, when it embraced 
the provinces of Liguria, Gallia Cisalpina, Venetia, and Istria in the 
north ; Etruria, Umbria, Picenum, Samnium, Latium, and Campania 
in the center, or Italy proper ; and Apulia, Lucania, and Bruttium, 
in the south. 

It is generally admitted that the authentic history of Italy com- 
menced with the founding of Rome, B. C. 75.3. From that remote 
period to the birth of Christ pagan darkness enveloped the land. 
The tribes in the north and the colonies from Greece in the south 
had introduced polytheism into Italy, and made it the national religion. 

9 



10 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Romulus laid the foundation of Rome with the most minute ceremo- 
nial, and Numa Pompilius, who succeeded him, B. C. 715, increased 
the number of the gods, built temples, and instituted different 
classes of priests and a great variety of religious ceremonies. The 
flamens officiated each in the service of a peculiar deity ; the salii 
guarded the sacred bucklers ; the vestals cherished the sacred fire ; 
and the augurs and aruspices divined future events from the flight 
of birds. 

As Rome advanced in wealth and refinement its pagan worship 
was rendered more magnificent and impressive by the erection of 
costly and splendid edifices, adorned with all the arts of sculpture, 
and filled with offerings and sacrifices. The priests, arrayed in gor- 
geous costumes, officiated in the temples, and the multitude beheld 
the spectacle of bleeding animal victims with feelings of the deepest 
awe. Jupiter and a host of other national deities, celestial and ter- 
restrial, Avere worshiped in the most solemn and imposing manner. 
Ancient Rome is said to have contained four hundred and twent}' 
temples dedicated to different gods. Indeed, every virtue and vice 
of the human heart, every faculty of the mind and body, and every 
property of the real and imaginary world, was presided over by its 
peculiar deity. Every mountain and stream and grove had its 
nymph or naiad, and ever}^ hero and sage of Itah' was -elevated to 
the rank of a divinity. In the dwelling of alm.ost every wealthy 
family there was a private chapel, in Avhich their household gods 
were worshiped. 

This system of paganism, with all its mysterious rites and grand 
ceremonies, degraded the people of Italy. Instead of restraining 
human passions, this ancient religion actually developed them by 
inculcating the worship of certain deities who represented the worst 
forms of vice. There could not be incitements to virtue when the 
unlimited gratification of appetite was regarded as the smnnnnn bo- 
niini of human life. While some of the heathen philosophers had an 
indistinct idea of the true God, and of future rewards and punish- 
ments, the multitude were ignorant of these important truths. 
Hence, from age to age, they progressed in wickedness, and so intent 
were they in practicing evil, and so resolved to gratify their passions, 
that their minds were excited to discover new modes of indulgence. 
It is not surprising, therefore, that their entertainments, games, 
theaters, and sports became cruel and bloody to satisfy the desires of 
lust and of pride. The priests, wdio were teachers of error and the 
base deluders of a wretched, degraded people, could not arrest this 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN ROME. 1 1 

tide of iniquity, because paganism ignored the authority of con- 
science, declaring the whole of religion to consist of the performance 
of certain ceremonies, and the gods to be superior to men only in 
their immortality and power. 

Such was pagan Rome when the Christian era dawned upon the 
world. Christ had proclaimed those truths which were destined to 
enlighten and elevate every nation ; but as yet they had not advanced 
beyond Judea. At length the instrumentality that was to proclaim 
them in the great center of paganism was selected. It is not defi- 
nitely known, however, when the first ray of Christian light pene- 
trated Italy. In A. D. 58 Paul, the chosen apostle to the Gentiles, 
was moved to address a letter from Corinth to the Christians at 
Rome, but when and by whom the Gospel was first preached there 
can not be ascertained. Those who assert that the Apostle Peter was 
the honored instrument depend upon tradition to support their 
opinion, as the Bible is silent concerning thq matter. If that servant 
of Christ first preached the Gospel in the ''Eternal City," such an 
important event would have been recorded in the "Acts of the 
Apostles," which embraces chiefly the labors of both Peter and Paul. 
Indeed, the name of the original founder of the Church in Rome has 
not been preserved by history. It is, therefore, probable that it was 
first organized by private Christians converted in Palestine, who had 
come to reside at Rome, or who had brought back Christianity with 
them from some of their periodical visits to Jerusalem, as the ''stran- 
gers from Rome" from the great Pentecost. (Acts ii, 10.) Among 
the immense multitudes whom political and commercial reasons con- 
stantly attracted to the metropolis of the world there could not fail 
to be representatives of every religion which had established itself in 
any of the provinces. 

As the organization of the Church in Rome was undoubtedly the 
early dawn of Christianity in Italy, its character possesses an historic 
interest. The epistle of Paul reveals some features of it which 
deserve consideration. The salutations at the close indicate that the 
apostle was already acquainted with the names of numerous Chris- 
tians at Rome, though he had never seen the brethren there. He 
had ascertained from those who had visited the Church some impor- 
tant facts relative to its spiritual condition, and he did not hesitate, 
therefore, to address its members as "beloved of God, called to be 
saints." Paul also expresses thanks to God that their faith was 
"spoken of throughout the whole world." This was a remarkable 
tribute to the zeal and devotion of the first Italian Church, which 



12 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

boldly maintained the truth in the magnificent but corrupt capital of 
the Roman Empire. The apostle, moreover, declared his purpose to 
visit the brethren at Rome, and by imparting ''some spiritual gift," 
through the preaching of the Gospel, to more fully establish them 
in their work. He expected to greet them on his contemplated 
journey from Jerusalem to Spain ; but having been delayed, and 
wishing to assure them of his affectionate regard, he wrote the cele- 
brated epistle. 

From Corinth Paul went to Jerusalem to attend the Hebrew fes- 
tival of Pentecost. He was there arrested and arraigned before the 
Sanhedrim, but was afterwards sent to Caesarea to Felix, the Roman 
governor. At the close of two years' imprisonment he Avas brought 
to trial, and having appealed his case to Caesar was taken a prisoner 
to the Roman emperor. It is the prevaiHng opinion that Paul 
reached the imperial city in the Spring, A. D. 6i. How different 
the circumstances of his visit from what he anticipated three years 
before when he wrote to the brethren at Rome ! He now landed 
upon the shores of Italy in chains ; but his humiliation only served to 
increase the sympathy of the Italian Christians, who gave the dis- 
tinguished prisoner a cordial reception, meeting him at Appii-Forum 
and the Three Taverns, and escorting him to the city. The apostle 
was delivered to the "captain of the guard," who permitted him to 
dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him." 

The presence and counsels of Paul were a blessing to the Church, 
and though an "ambassador in bonds," he was determined, as he 
had previously declared, "to preach the Gospel," under all circum- 
stances, to the believers "at Rome also," for even there he was "not 
ashamed of the Gospel of Christ." Knowing it to be "the power 
of God unto salvation," he proclaimed it to others, and m.ade con- 
verts in "Caesar's household." While waiting to be arraigned for 
trial he "dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and 
received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God 
and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ Avith 
all confidence, no man forbidding him." It is evident from the 
various epistles which he wrote to distant Churches while in Rome, 
that many were converted under his ministry there. 

The humble Church to which Paul ministered was as "a light 
which shineth in a dark place." At that period Italy had reached the 
meridian of wealth, refinement, and luxury; but its moral condition 
was fearful to behdld. Seven centuries of pagan superstition and 
idolatry had produced their legitimate effects. Livy says of the age 



PAUL IN ROME. 13 

of Augustus, which closed A. D. 14, *' We can neither bear our vices 
nor their remedy.'' Seneca, one of the purest moraHsts of Rome, 
says of the same period: ^'AU is full of criminality and vice; 
indeed, much more of these is committed than can be remedied by 
force. A monstrous contest of abandoned wickedness is carried 
on. The lust of sin increases daily, and shame is daily more and 
more extinguished. Discarding respect for all that is good and sa- 
cred, lust rushes on wherever it will. Vice no longer hides itself. It 
stalks forth before all eyes. So public has abandoned wickedness 
become, and so openly does it flame up in the minds of all, that 
innocence is no longer seldom, but has wholly ceased to exist." 
Thus the testimony of pagan writers confirms the statements of Paul 
contained in the first chapter of his epistle to the Romans. 

From the beginning of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, 
A. D. 14, to the death of Nero, A. D. 69, Italy had continued to 
sink lower in effeminacy and vice. It could boast of a civilization 
of intellectual and physical greatness, which may exist even under 
the dominion of paganism, but sensuality and cruelty every -where 
prevailed. The spirit of Roman liberty fled, and the people became 
slaves under the tyrannical rule of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and 
Nero. In the mean time the light of divine truth had been radiat- 
ing fr6m the Church in Rome, and many embraced the doctrines of 
Christianity. The number of such must have been considerable, 
because a severe persecution was waged against them by Nero, 
A. D. 64. In the Summer of that year a terrible conflagration 
occurred in Rome, which continued nine days, and destroyed ten of 
the fourteen regions, or "wards," of the city. Nero watched the 
progress of the flames from a tower on the Esquiline, and chanted 
the ''Sack of Troy" in the dress of an actor. He manifested the 
most heartless indifference to the sufferings of his subjects. It is 
said that he ordered the firing of the city because he was disgusted 
with its narrow, winding streets, and then charged the crime upon 
the Christians, who were pursued like wild beasts and put to death 
in the most cruel manner. 

During the reign of this blood-thirsty monster Paul suffered mar- 
tyrdom, the tragic event occurring, according to the best authority, 
in the Summer of A. D. 6^. The heroic apostle, after fearlessly 
proclaiming the truths of Christianity in the splendid city of the 
Caesars, offered himself as a sacrifice ; but his death, instead of dis- 
couraging the Christians in Italy, inspired them with fresh courage 
and hope. The immediate successors of Nero were more tolerant 



14 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

toward the followers of Christ. Galba, who reigned only seven 
months, was of illustrious descent, and possessed a good moral 
character. He endeavored to accomplish two important objects — 
the punishment of the enormous vices then prevalent and the replen- 
ishing of the treasury. Otho, who succeeded Galba, occupied the 
throne only ninety days, but during that time he manifested a 
humane disposition. One of his generals was proclaimed emperor 
by the army, and Otho, having been defeated by Vitellius, commit- 
ted suicide. The latter resembled Nero in his vices and cruelties, 
and at the end of eight months was ignominiously put to death by 
his enemies, who had selected Vespasian to be his successor. 

The new emperor came to the throne by the unanimous consent 
of the senate and army, and was received with demonstrations of 
delight on his arrival at Rome, A. D. 70. He acted under the forms 
of the republic, and even restored the senate to its deliberative 
rights. Under his vigorous administration the empire regained a 
great degree of its lost power and prestige. The prominent features 
of his character were clemency, affability, and frugality. Vespasian 
also restored the discipline of the army to its old standard, and pro- 
moted education and literature. The spirit of enterprise was fostered 
by the erection of great public works, which gave employment to 
the laboring class. The emperor converted the space inclosed by 
Nero, for his own use, into public grounds, and in a portion of it built 
the Flavian Amphitheater, or celebrated Coliseum. The interior was 
decorated with great splendor. The principal seats were of marble, 
and covered with cushions. Gilded gratings, ornaments of gold, ivory, 
and amber, and mosaic of precious stones, displayed the generosity 
of the emperor and gratified the taste of the people. 

Vespasian, who died A. D. 79, to the universal regret of the 
people of Italy, was succeeded by his son Titus, a just and benevo- 
lent prince. He was sincerely and unceasingly devoted to the hap- 
piness of his subjects, and, notwithstanding his extravagant habits 
and other grave personal faults, deserves to be classed among the 
good rulers of Italy. During his reign the country was afflicted 
with heavy calamities. A terrible fire raged three days and nights 
at Rome, and this was followed by a destructive pestilence, which 
carried away ten thousand persons in one day. Titus from his own 
resources repaired the devastations of the city, even selling the orna- 
ments of his palace to defray the cost of rebuilding the burned dis- 
trict. The great eruption of Vesuvius, which destroyed the beautiful 
and wealthy cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum,was a serious loss to 



1 6 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

that portion of Italy ; but in all these disasters the emperor acted as 
a father to his people. His brother, Domitian, assumed the royal 
purple, A. D. 8i. The beginning of his reign promised a continu- 
ance of their happiness to the inhabitants of Italy; but the scene 
soon changed, and he became a most execrable villain and tyrant. 
Possessing a morose and jealous disposition, he delighted in cruel 
deeds, condemning to death many illustrious Romans, whose agonies 
he witnessed with ferocious pleasure. His reign was an era of prod- 
igality and luxury as well as of inhumanity and baseness. The 
people were loaded with insupportable taxes to furnish spectacles and 
games for their amusement. Though not destitute of learning him- 
self, he was not disposed to patronize it, but banished the philoso- 
phers from Rome, and spent his own leisure in the most degrading 
pursuits. He was bitter against the followers of Christ, who had 
become numerous, and at his instigation not less than forty thousand 
of them suffered martyrdom, A. D. 95. 

The cruelties of Domitian had so discredited the hereditary prin- 
ciple that the senate now asserted a right which it had not exercised 
since the days of Aug^ustus, and selected Nerva to occupy the throne, 
which was made vacant by the death of Domitian, A. D. 96. The 
new emperor proved to be one of Rome's best sovereigns — econom- 
ical, prudent, munificent, courteous, and modest. The few vices he 
possessed were scarcely observed amidst the blaze of his virtues and 
the fame of his exploits. He replaced the bloody rule of Domitian 
with a government of great gentleness, and, by rescinding the san- 
guinary edicts of his predecessor, permitted the Christian Church to 
enjoy a season of tranquillity. 



Chapter II. 

PAGAN DARKNESS DISAPPEARING. 

WHEN the second century opened Trajan still held the imperial 
scepter, and endeavored to extend his dominions. After a 
struggle of four years he finally conquered the Dacians, A. D. 105, 
and, returning to Rome, celebrated his triumph with games which 
lasted one hundred and twenty-three days, during which eleven thou- 
sand wild beasts and ten thousand gladiators, chiefly Dacian prison- 
ers, are said to have been slain. He invaded Armenia, A. D. 115, 



THE PEACEFUL REIGN OF HADRIAN. 17 

and carried his victorious arms as far as Susa. The result of the 
war was the addition to the Roman territory of the provinces of 
Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria. Desiring to be considered by 
future ages as a great conqueror, he resolved to subjugate the whole 
earth, but was compelled to abandon the enterprise on account of the 
inconveniences of increasing age. He died in Cilicia, A. D. 117, 
on his return from the East, and his ashes were conveyed to Rome 
in a golden urn, and buried under the column which is called by 
his name. 

Hadrian was chosen emperor, and in many respects -resembled 
Trajan. He was genial in his disposition, affable in manner, and 
liberal in character. Though he ruled with a firm hand he was mod- 
erate in all things, and scrupulously maintained the forms of a free 
government. He expended the public funds lavishly in the service 
of the state and the improvement of the empire, but managed the 
finances with such skill that his treasury was never exhausted. He 
resembled Trajan also in his capacity for and devotion to business, 
and never allowed his love of pleasure to interfere with his official 
duties. He was a liberal patron of the arts and a wise friend to lit- 
erature. His reign was an almost unbroken period of peace and 
prosperity, as he desired to Improve his dominions without caring to 
extend them. By visiting in person all the provinces of his empire 
he became acquainted with the various races over which he ruled, 
and dispensed to each alike the blessings of justice and order. With 
the advance of age his natural irritability of temper and jealousy 
increased, and, disregarding the value of human life, he put men to 
death for small offenses. An architect was condemned to be exe- 
cuted for criticising some statues designed by the emperor. Toward 
the close of his earthly career he Avas miserable and unhappy ; but 
his subjects, despite his faults, mourned his demise. "To have 
combined for twenty years unbroken peace with the maintenance of 
a contented and efficient army; liberal expenditure with a full ex- 
chequer, replenished by no oppressive or unworthy means ; a free- 
speaking senate with a strong and firm monarchy, — is no mean glory." 

The wisdom of Hadrian was never more strikingly exhibited than 
in the choice of his successor, Titus Aurelius Antoninus, or Antoni- 
nus Pius, as he is more commonly called. He commenced to reign 
A. D. 138, and during his peaceful and prosperous administration 
of twenty -three years conferred innumerable blessings upon Italy. 
While preferring peace to conquest, yet whenever war became nec- 
essary he carried it on with vigor and success. He continued the 



1 8 JTAL V S TR UG GLING INTO LIGHT. 

liberal policy of Trajan and Hadrian, displaying virtues that were an 
ornament to human nature. Such was his munificence that in cases 
of famine or inundation in Italy he supplied with his own money the 
wants of the sufferers. When told of conquering heroes his humane 
feelings moved him to say, with Scipio, that '*he preferred the life 
and preservation of one subject to the death of a hundred enemies." 
He was the first of the pagan emperors who protected the Christians, 
for whom he manifested an extraordinary regard, declaring that **if 
any should proceed to disturb them on account of their religion, 
such should undergo the same punishment which was intended against 
the accused." A degree of persecution, nevertheless, occurred, for 
which Antoninus can not be held responsible. 

Marcus Aurelius, who ascended the imperial throne A. D. i6i, 
assumed the name of Antoninus, his adoptive father, to whom he was 
sincerely attached. He was a prince of great talents and virtue, lov- 
ing retirement and philosophical contemplation, and improving for 
mental cultivation and enjoyment all his leisure time, which, to his 
regret, was limited. The disturbances in the empire called him fre- 
quently into the field, and being inclined to peace, he disliked these 
military excursions. It was an infelicity of the otherwise admirable 
reign of Aurelius, that the Christians at one time were violently per- 
secuted. From his youth he had been a devoted follower of the doc- 
trines of the Stoic philosophy, and it is possible that he was influenced 
in his treatment of the Christians by the advice of the harsh and arro- 
gant members of that sect who surrounded him. The fanatical pagan 
priests ascribed to the Christians the various calamities which afflicted 
the empire — the attacks of the barbarians, and the devastations occa- 
sioned by earthquakes, famines, pestilence, and inundations. The 
disciples of Christ were accused of provoking the gods by impiously 
refusing to deprecate their wrath. During this persecution, which 
occurred A. D. 177, many indignities, deprivations, and sufferings 
were inflicted on those who professed the true faith. These cruel 
measures, which equaled those of Nero, were permitted by Aurelius, 
though he was the most philosophic and accomplished of the Romish 
emperors, and his administration was stained with the blood of such 
eminent martyrs as the venerable Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, the 
friend and companion of the Apostle John, and the excellent and 
learned Justin Martyr. Among many nameless sufferers history has 
preserved from oblivion Pothinus, the respectable bishop of Lyons, 
who was then more than ninety years of age ; Sanctus, a deacon of 
Vienne; Attains, a native of Pergamus ; Maturus, and Alexander; 



A URELIUS LESS INTOLERANT. 1 9 

some of whom were devoured by wild beasts, and some of them 
tortured in an iron chair made red hot. Some females also, and 
particularly Biblias and Blandina, reflected honor both upon their sex 
and their religion by their constancy and courage. 

It is said that a circumstance, which seemed to be almost miracu- 
lous, gave Aurelius a favorable impression of the Christians, and 
immediately caused him to relax the persecution against them. In a 
contest with the barbarians beyond the Danube, the Roman legions 
unexpectedly, through the artifice of the enemy, found themselves 
inclosed in a place where they could neither fight nor retreat. In 
this situation they became at length entirely disheartened from their 
long-continued fatigue, the excessive heat of the place, and their 
violent thirst. In this terrible condition, while sorrow and despair 
were depicted on every brow, Aurelius ran through the ranks and 
used every effort to rekindle their hopes and courage ; but in vain. 
At this crisis, and just as the barbarians were ready to follow them, 
it is recorded that the solemn prayers of a Christian legion, then serv- 
ing in the Roman army, produced such a shower of rain as instantly 
revived the fainting soldiers. At the same time the clouds seemed 
to change their appearance and next discharged a fearful storm of 
hail with thunder, that dismayed the enemy and made them an easy 
prey to the refreshed and inspirited Romans. This circumstance is 
related by pagan as well as Christian writers, with this difference, that 
the latter ascribe the victory to the prayers of the Christian legion, 
and the former to the prayers of the emperor. The death of Aurel- 
ius, A. D. 180, was regretted as a public loss, and great honor was 
paid to his memory by the people. According to the superstitions 
of the times he Avas ranked among the gods, and in almost every 
house his statue was found. Scholars and philosophers in succeeding 
ages read and admired his book of "Meditations." 

Commodus, the son of Aurelius, was nominated by the latter to 
succeed him, and he accordingly mounted the throne A. D. 180. 
He had nothing but the merits of his father to commend him to the 
Roman people, evidently inheriting the disposition of his infamous- 
mother, Faustina, rather than that of Aurelius. It is a singular fact. 
that the most detestable of all the emperors w^as the son of one Avho, 
in many respects, may be ranked among the best. Commodus in- 
dulged in the lowest vices and the meanest pursuits, participating in. 
the sports of the circus and the ampitheater. Proud of his physicali 
strength, he called himself the "Roman Hercules," and engaged in 
combats with wild beasts and gladiators. His administration of the 

3 



20 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

government was entirely weak, contemptible, and tyrannical, and the 
decline of the empire, which had begun as early as the reign of Galba, 
and had only been arrested by the five good emperors, proceeded 
Avith frightful rapidity. The discipline of the army was almost totally 
destroyed. The troops deserted their standards by hundreds, and 
either united with the provincials and settled down into an agricul- 
tural life, or organized themselves into banditti and plundered the 
country without restraint. "■ Meanwhile population was declining and 
production consequently diminishing, while luxury and extravagance 
continued to prevail among the upper classes, and to exhaust the 
resources of the state. Above all, the general morality was contin- 
ually becoming worse and worse. Despite a few bright examples in 
high places, the tone of society grew every-where more and more 
corrupt. Purity of life, except among despised Christians, was almost 
unknown. Patriotism had ceased to exist, and was not yet replaced 
by loyalty. Decline and decrepitude showed themselves in almost 
every portion of the body politic, and a general despondency, the 
result of a consciousness of debility, pervaded all classes." 

Commodus was assassinated, A. D. 193, and in the same year 
Pertinax, who had been chosen emperor by the conspirators, com- 
menced to reign. The praetorian guards, yielding to the entreaties 
of their commander, who was one of the murderers of Commodus, 
sullenly accepted the new ruler ; but the senate, overjoyed at the 
•elevation of one of their own order, welcomed him with manifestations 
of delight. At first he naturally hesitated to receive a crown pre- 
sented to him by bloody hands, but his scruples were at length over- 
come. Originally the son of an enfranchised slave, he nevertheless 
rose to esteem by his virtues and military talents. When called to the 
throne he possessed an unblemished character and was one of the few 
surviving friends of Marcus Aurelius. The treasury being empty, Per- 
tinax endeavored to introduce economy into the administration of the 
government; but he corrected abuses with such an unsparing hand 
that he aroused the hostility of the avaricious praetorians and alien- 
ated the affections of a corrupted people. On the 28th of March, 
A. D. 193, he was deposed and murdered by the same guards that 
had elected him. The praetorians now put the imperial dignity up 
at auction, and Didius Julianus, a man of consular rank and the 
richest citizen of Rome, charmed with the prospect of unbounded 
dominion, hastened to the camp, and became the purchaser by a bid 
of more than fifteen millions of dollars. The senate, afraid to oppose 
the will of these troops, acknowledged Julianus; but at least three of 



THE MILITAR V REIGN OF SE VER US. 2 1 

the generals in the provinces abroad disclaimed his authority, and 
were each proclaimed emperor by their respective forces. Of these, 
Severus- was the most energetic, and being the nearest to Rome he 
soon passed the Alps and marched upon the city. Julianus, unable 
to raise an army to oppose him, was exposed to disappointment, 
mortification, insult, and danger. His perplexity and distress at 
length became extreme and overwhelming. The senate, at this crisis, 
perceiving his timidity and irresolution, abandoned him, and after 
causing him to be beheaded proclaimed Severus emperor. Thus 
within eight months the imperial crown had been worn by two mon- 
archs, Pertinax having reigned three months and Julianus five. 

The first act of Septimius Severus, after obtaining possession of 
the capital, was to degrade the praetorian soldiers and destroy their 
power, and he secured this result by depriving them of their title and 
banishing them one hundred miles from the city. The new emperor 
was an African by birth, and possessed a restless activity with an 
unbounded share of ambition. He was endowed with a hardihood 
and decision of character which fitted him for any enterprise. His 
military talents were conspicuous, and the credit of the Roman arms 
was sustained during his reign. In his administration of government 
he was generally wise and equitable, but highly despotic. After de- 
feating Albinus and Niger, his rivals, he put to death forty-one sen- 
ators and a number of rich provincials, because they did not support 
him. He spent considerable time in visiting the cities of Italy, but 
devoted more attention to military than civil affairs. 

During the second century Christianity made rapid progress in 
Italy, and paganism, beholding the desertion of her temples and the 
neglect of her victims, trembled in the presence of an increasing 
power which threatened her with inevitable destruction. The wi'it- 
ings of Pliny, Justin Martyr, and others, declare that not only the 
wretched, the ignorant, and the poor accepted the Gospel, and espe- 
cially the doctrine of immortality, which reconciled them to the miser- 
ies of life, but also the learned, the accomplished, and the wealthy. 
The prominent virtues of the early Italian Christians were instrumental 
In the spread of the truth. Men could not resist an argument so 
persuasive and powerful. The followers of Christ, relinquishing the 
pleasures and vanities of the world, lived in humble style, and those 
who had possessions voluntarily renounced them for the relief of 
their indigent brethren. The heathen philosophers, who tolerated 
every form of vice, naturally abhorred the doctrines and despised the 
professors of this new religion; but even Marcus Aurclius acknowl- 



22 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

edged the contrast between the resigned and devout manners of the 
Christians and the conduct of the other subjects of the empire during 
a season of pecuhar calamity. They were bound by the most sol- 
emn obligation to abstain from theft, sedition, adultery, perjury, 
fraud, and all other crimes which disturb the private or public peace 
of society. Far from being engaged in any unlawful conspiracy, they 
were even commended for their loyalty by the pagan governors. 
Besides these virtues, which shone so brightly in that dark age, the 
members of this persecuted sect possessed a warm and active charity, 
which was not confined to their own society, nor even to the whole 
Christian community, but extended to all, however different in relig- 
ious opinions. 

Notwithstanding that during the greater part of this century the 
Christians of Italy were not molested, the sword of persecution was 
not sheathed because the pagan government had ceased to be hostile. 
It was constantly suspended by a single hair over their innocent heads, 
but the emperors were often too much engrossed with public affairs 
to punish them. The decrees of Trajan respecting them were soft- 
ened by the counsels of the mild and benevolent Pliny, whose hu- 
mane interference secured for them exemption from further annoy- 
ance ; and in the succeeding reign of Hadrian, the penalties enacted 
against them were mitigated, but not abrogated. The enemies of 
Christianity despised its followers, because their manners and habits 
were peculiar, and they were accused of being austere and arrogant. 
As they had no visible object of worship, their pretensions to religion 
were considered improbable, if not impious, and because they assem- 
bled in solitary places they were charged with holding incestuous 
festivals and practicing human sacrifices. These and other accusa- 
tions originated in the implacable hatred of the pagan priests. 

Not only the pious lives but also the triumphant deaths of many 
of the prominent martyrs were powerful arguments in favor of the 
Gospel. The testimony of these illustrious saints confounded the 
pagan philosophers, and deeply impressed the people. Another ele- 
ment of strength that contributed to the overthrow of error was the 
Christian literature of Italy. Among the celebrated writers of the 
century was Justin Martyr, whose piety and eloquence have been 
admired by succeeding ages. He wandered in pursuit of truth 
through every known philosophical system, and at length embraced 
the Christian religion. Without laying aside the philosopher's habit, 
he taught the doctrines of the Gospel at Rome, where he suffered 
martvrdom. 



THE NOBLE ALEXANDER SEVER US. 23 



Chapter III. 

THE LIGHT SHINING IN ITAL V. 

THE reign of Severus extended into the third century and ter- 
minated A. D. 211. He died in Great Britain, where he had 
spent more than two years in mihtary campaigns against the Caledo- 
nians. His sons, Caracalla and Geta, conjointly ruled the empire, 
but the former murdered the latter, A. D. 212. The surviving 
brother was a cruel monster, and after committing a continued series 
of fearful atrocities was taken off by assassination, A. D. 217. Ma- 
crinus, who instigated Caracalla's death, became emperor; but little is 
known concerning him. He was of obscure birth, and, alienating 
the affections of his soldiers by severe discipline, he rendered himself 
unpopular, and lost his life in the struggle to retain his power, after 
a brief reign of eighteen months. The army raised Heliogabalus to 
the throne, A. D. 218, when he was only fourteen years of age ; but, 
notwithstanding his youthfulness, he ranked in wickedness with Nero, 
Commodus, and Caracalla, hastening by his vices the fall of the 
empire and covering his name with eternal infamy. 

At the end of four years Heliogabalus was assassinated, and Alex- 
ander Severus became the imperial ruler, A. D. 222. He was a 
prince of pure and blameless morals, possessing a kind, beneficent 
disposition, and having a thorough knowledge of literature and the 
arts. It is said that in deciding a controversy between the Christians 
and a company of cooks and vintners about a piece of ground, which 
the former claimed as a place of public worship, and the latter for 
exercising their respective trades, he made the following remark : "It 
is better that God be worshiped there in any manner than that the 
place should be put to the uses of drunkenness or debauchery." 
Though a young man of only sixteen years when called to this 
responsible position, he exhibited great wisdom and was highly hon- 
ored and esteemed by his subjects. During a mutiny among his 
soldiers he was slain at the instigation of Maximinus, A. D. 235, 
in the fourteenth year of his reign. Maximinus did not long wear 
the crown obtained through crime, for he became so odious to the 
Roman people on account of his cruelties that his own soldiers were 
induced to put him to death, A. D. 238. From this period to the 



24 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

beginning of Diocletian's administration, A. D. 285, one emperor fol- 
lowed another in rapid succession. The praetorian soldiers selected 
the two Gordians, father and son, and the senate elected Pupienus 
and Balbinus. During the struggle that ensued all the claimants per- 
ished, and Gordian, a grandson to one of the former Gordians, was 
chosen by the army, and the senate and people were compelled to 
submit. This ruler was a young man of considerable merit, and was 
so fond of learning that he collected sixty-two thousand books in 
his private library. He appointed Philip, an Arabian, his prefect, 
and the latter showed his ingratitude by murdering his benefactor, 
A. D. 244; but after reigning five years he himself fell under the 
assassin's blow, thus receiving, in the manner of his death, a righteous 
retribution. 

When Decius began to sway the scepter, A. D. 249, the profli- 
gacy and luxury of the times, the disputes between the pagans and 
Christians, and the recent eruptions of the barbarians from without, 
had enfeebled the empire beyond remedy, and hence the activity and 
wisdom of the new sovereign could not arrest the process of decay. 
Believing that by destroying the Christians the purity of religion and 
morals among the Romans would be restored, he inaugurated a series 
of persecutions, and among the eminent martyrs were the bishops 
of Antioch, Jerusalem, and Rome. During his reign the Goths, 
attracted by the riches of the empire, swept over the border in large 
force, and Decius, in endeavoring to check their advance, was slain. 
The army now consented to allow the senate to regulate the succes- 
sion, and that body nominated Gallus, one of the generals of Decius, 
and two sons of the latter, Hostilianus and Volusianus, to rule the 
kingdom; but Gallus was really the emperor, his age and experience 
placing him far above his colleagues. He purchased peace from the 
Goths by the payment of an annual tribute on condition of their 
abstaining from invading the Roman dominions. This act rendered 
him unpopular in Italy, and the prevailing discontent was increased 
by the calamities which rapidly came upon the people. A destructive 
pestilence raged in Rome, threatening almost to depopulate it, and 
among the victims was Hostilianus. Gallus was a vicious sovereign, 
and was more and more disliked by his subjects. He failed to repel 
a fresh invasion of the barbarians ; but ^milianus, a governor of one 
of the provinces, defeated them, and was proclaimed emperor by his 
troops. Advancing upon Rome, he was opposed by Gallus, whose 
soldiers revolted, murdered their leader, and accepted ^milianus. 
The latter was acknowledged by the senate, A. D. 253; but Valerian, 



THE VIG OR O US REIGN OF A URELIAN. 2 5 

a general of Gallus, returning from Gaul, contested the elevation of 
the new ruler, and defeated him in a conflict in which he perished, 
after a reign of three months. 

Valerian was sixty years of age, and being too infirm to grapple 
with the dangers which now burst upon Italy, he did not enjoy a 
prosperous reign. In a war with Persia he was made a prisoner, A. 
D. 260, by Sapor, who refused all offers of ransom for his illustrious 
captive, allowing him to retain his imperial purple while in chains — a 
spectacle never before witnessed in the world's history. It is said 
that the Persian king held the royal prisoner seven years, and used 
him as a footstool in mounting his horse, declaring that ''such an 
attitude was the best statue that could be erected in honor of his 
victory." Gallienus, who had been associated, A. D. 254, in the 
government of the empire, upon his father's capture became sole 
ruler; but during his reign of eight years the disasters which had 
been afflicting Italy,„continued without cessation. ''The emperor," 
says Gibbon, "was a master of several curious but useless sciences, 
a ready orator, an elegant poet, a skillful gardener, an excellent cook, 
and a most contemptible prince." He promised to avenge the insults 
and death of his father ; but after his elevation he thought only of his 
own base pleasures. In the mean time his dominions were attacked 
without and disturbed within, and he could do little more than 
attempt the defense of Italy against the thirty pretenders who at one 
time contended for the control of the state. In the vicinity of Milan, 
Gallienus was slain by his troops, A. D. 268, and their selection of 
Flavins Claudius to fill the vacant throne was indorsed by the whole 
Roman people. This prince was an active, wise, and good man, and 
by his firmness arrested for a while the work of destruction which 
was going on in the empire. He conquered and expelled the Goths 
and other tribes from Italy; and, after a short but glorious reign of 
two years, died at Sirmium, A. D. 270. On his death-bed he recom- 
mended as his successor AureHan, one of his generals, whom he 
considered most competent to the task of completing the work he 
himself had begun. 

The parentage of Aurelian was obscure, but he was esteemed the 
most valiant commander of his age, and after driving the Germans 
out of Italy he put an end to the Gothic war by crushing the enemy. 
He revived the rigid discipline of the army, and led his victorious 
troops to Palmyra, and not only overthrew the kingdom, but con- 
veyed Zenobia, the ruling princess, to Rome, A. D. 273. Previous 
to these wars Aurelian, in order to secure the capital against the 



26 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

sudden attack of the barbarians, fortified Rome with a new wall 
which inclosed the suburbs that had sprung up beyond the wall of 
Servius Tullius. This brave general was about to proceed to the 
East to make war upon the Persians when he was assassinated by 
several of his officers, who had been instigated to the crime by his- 
private secretary, A. D. 275. The administration of Aurelian was 
thus suddenly terminated at the end of four years and nine months, 
and ranks among the most brilliant in the history of Rome. His 
violent death created great indignation in the army, and the troops, 
refusing to allow any of the officers to assume the imperial dignity, 
applied to the senate to appoint a new emperor. After waiting six 
months the people were informed that M. Claudius Tacitus, a senator 
of great wealth and pure character, had been chosen. He endeav- 
ored to decline the honor, pleading his age and infirmities, but the 
senate would not release him. During a reign of six or seven months 
he labored to restore that era of morality and law which had marked 
the earlier republic. Being called away to the East by the disaffec- 
tion of the army in that quarter, he sank under the fatigues of the 
journey, and died, A. D. 276. When the news of his death reached 
Rome, his brother, Florian, resolved to take the reins of government; 
but the Eastern army had already invested their general, M. Aurelius 
Probus, with the imperial purple. The troops of Florian not only 
refused to fight their comrades, but were induced, within three 
months, to murder their own commander. 

Probus, who now had undisputed possession of the throne, was 
an able general and a prudent and vigorous monarch, sincerely 
devoted to the welfare of his subjects, which he believed he could 
accomplish as well by the arts of peace as by conquest. He endeav- 
ored to drain the marshy lands and to improve the agricultural 
system. In attempting to accomplish the latter object he found it 
necessary to employ his troops, and they, disgusted with agricultural 
pursuits, and desiring to be relieved, put Probus to death, A. D. 282. 
The army selected Carus, the praetorian prefect, to administer the 
government, and he proclaimed his two sons, Carinus and Numer- 
ianus, ''Caesars," associating the former in the empire. Leaving 
Carinus to govern the West, Carus departed for the East, taking with 
him his younger son. After a victorious campaign in Mesopotamia 
and Persia, he died on the banks of the Tigris, A. D. 283. Numer- 
ianus assumed the command, but was assassinated by his father-in- 
law, who hoped to seize the throne. When the legions discovered 
the crime they placed the scepter in the hands of Diocletian, the 




THE TWELVE CyESARS. 



28 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

commander of the body-guard, who slew the murderer of the young 
prince with his own hands and marched westward. Carinus, who had 
disgusted the people of Italy by his profligacy, hearing of the 
approach of Diocletian, advanced with a large army to meet him, 
and obtained a decisive victory, but was himself slain by a tribune 
whom he had grievously wronged. 

The troops acknowledged Diocletian as emperor, A. D. 285, and 
his accession truly marks a new period in the history of Italy and the 
whole empire. Since the death of Commodus, the imperial authority 
had been restricted by the insolent legions, who claimed the right to 
elevate and dethrone the sovereign at will. By assuming the pre- 
rogatives legally belonging to the senate, they inaugurated a tyranny 
which was unendurable, and which would have destroyed the Roman 
state long before had not the danger with which the barbarians con- 
stantly threatened it made the troops willing to submit to some form 
of discipline, Diocletian strengthened the authority of the government 
and taught the army its true position as the servant of the state. He 
associated with him in the empire one of his generals named Maxim- 
ian, who had risen from the ranks, and who was little more than a 
good military commander. The two emperors took each the title of 
Augustus. Two ''Caesars" were appointed to stand in the relation 
of sons and successors to the Augusti, Galerius being chosen by 
Diocletian and Constantius by Maximian. Both were younger than 
their patrons and possessed great ability as generals. The empire 
was divided among the four sovereigns, Italy being a part of Max- 
imian's territory; but, according to the basis of agreement, the unity 
of the whole remained intact. This complex arrangement worked 
well while Diocletian lived, because his influence was sufficient to 
maintain harmony in the government. Toward the close of his reign, 
however, the evils of the system began to manifest themselves. The 
establishment of four imperial courts instead of one, and the conse- 
quent multiplication of officials and of armies, necessarily increased 
the rate of taxation, already very heavy. The inhabitants of Italy 
were almost crushed beneath the weight of the imposts laid upon the 
country, and the taxes were collected with the greatest difficulty. It 
was generally necessary to employ violence and sometimes torture 
for this purpose. Hence industry sank beneath this system that 
deprived it of all its earnings; production diminished steadily, and 
the prices of all commodities rose. 

During the civil and military events of the third century Chris- 
tianity continued to advance in Italy. Among several causes favor- 



LIGHT IN THE CA TA COMBS. 29 

able to its diffusion was the rapid succession of the Roman emperors, 
whose Hves and deaths attracted pubHc attention, and delayed the 
execution of those edicts intended for the destruction of the Chris- 
tians. The interval between the death of Severus and the time when 
Maximinus assumed the imperial purple was a period when the follow- 
ers of Christ enjoyed peculiar privileges. They publicly appeared at 
court, and composed a considerable part of the household and favor- 
ites of the amiable Alexander, being protected by Mammaea, his 
mother. Maximinus persecuted them, but after his death they had 
more liberty than they ever before experienced. Philip had even 
advanced beyond the bounds observed by Alexander Severus, who 
paid divine honors to Christ, and it is said that he placed his statue 
or picture along with Abraham and Orpheus in his domestic chapel. 
After the Decian persecution the Church had comparative peace, 
which continued during eighteen years of the reign of Diocletian. 
In this prosperous season the Christians pubhcly professed their 
religious sentiments, and increased so rapidly that many additional 
edifices were demanded for religious worship. 

Thus the first dawn of Christian light upon Italy had developed 
into a bright morning. The storms of persecution often darkened 
the sky ; but the radiance of the Gospel dispelled even the gloom of 
the Catacombs, the subterranean sanctuaries where the saints assem- 
bled to worship God, and the purity of their faith is attested by the 
symbols on the walls of these wonderful retreats. 



Chapter IV. 

FA CAN ISM O VER THRO WN IN ITAL Y. 

TOWARDS the close of his reign Diocletian, alarmed at the 
rapid progress of Christianity, which had been embraced by 
fully one-half of his subjects, determined to destroy it. He issued 
an edict, A. D. 303, requiring uniformity of worship throughout the 
empire ; but the Christians refused to comply with it. Thousands 
were slain in every province ; their property was confiscated, and 
their churches destroyed. Diocletian, weary of the trials and cares 
of public life, abdicated his throne, and compelled Maximian to do 
likewise. By this act Galerius and Constantius became Augusti, 
A. D. 305, and for several years the empire was ruled by various 



30 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

persons appointed by the senate. Maxentius was (A. D. 311) em- 
peror of that division which embraced Italy, and had ahenated his 
subjects by his cruelties and extortions. They appealed to Constan- 
tine to drive their oppressor from the throne ; but he disliked to 
engage in such a war. Finding, however, that Maxentius was pre- 
paring to invade Gaul, he anticipated him, and entered Italy at the 
head of forty thousand men, passing the Alps by way of Mont Cenis 
without resistance. The struggle was decided by the vigor and 
rapidity of Constantine's movements. He defeated his adversary in 
two battles — one near Verona and the other at the Colline Gate — 
and made himself master of Rome and Italy, Maxentius having been 
drowned in the Tiber during the last battle. 

Constantine declared subsequently to Eusebius, bishop of Caesa- 
rea, according to that writer, that in one of his marches in the cam- 
paign against Maxentius he had seen with his own eyes the luminous 
trophy of the cross, placed above the meridian sun. inscribed with 
these words, ''By this conquer!" This amazing object in the sky 
astonished the whole army, as well as Constantine, who was yet 
undetermined in the choice of a religion. His astonishment was 
converted into faith by a vision which was vouchsafed to him the 
following night. ' ' Christ appeared before his eyes ; and, displaying 
the same celestial sign of the cross, he directed Constantine to frame 
a similar standard, and to march with an assurance of victory against 
Maxentius and all his enemies." 

In the fourth century the darkness of paganism disappeared from 
Italy. When Constantine embraced the Christian religion, A. D. 
311, he found the Church crushed by persecution, and resolved to 
defend it against its enemies. In A. D. 313 he issued an edict from 
Milan, authorizing every subject of the empire to profess either 
Christianity or paganism, undisturbed, securing the places of Chris- 
tian worship, and even directing the restoration of whatever property 
they had been dispossessed of by the late persecutions. About 
A. D. 325 he sent forth circular letters to all his subjects, exhorting 
them to an immediate imitation of their sovereign, who had em- 
braced the divine truths of the Gospel. By legal enactment, Chris- 
tianity became the national religion of the Roman Empire. From a 
persecuting the government had been converted into a protecting 
power. The religious zeal of Constantine increased with his years, 
and toward the close of his life several imperial edicts were issued 
for the destruction of the heathen temples and the prohibition of 
any sacrifices upon the altars of the gods. Before receiving the 



THE CHUR CH AND STA TE. 3 1 

initiatory rite of baptism, or entering the ranks of the catechumens, 
he performed many of the solemn ceremonies appointed by the 
Church — fasting, observance of the feasts in commemoration of the 
martyrs, and devout watching during the whole night on the vigils 
of the saints. 

The Church, having received so many advantages from the con- 
version and protection of Constantine, was prepared to acknowledge 
the emperor as its supreme head, who desired to unite the office of 
sovereign pontiff with the imperial dignity. He assumed to himself 
the title of bishop and ruler of the external affairs of the Church, 
and regulated whatever pertained to the possessions, reputation, 
rights, and privileges of the clergy. He and his successors convened 
councils, in which they presided and determined every thing relating 
to religious controversy, to the forms of divine worship, to the vices 
of the ecclesiastical order or the offices of the priests, and to matters 
of discipline. The limits of episcopal power between the emperor 
and the clergy were never clearly defined, and hence each party often 
encroached upon the rights of the other. 

The Bishop of Rome claimed superior antiquity, and therefore 
placed himself at the head of the clerical order. Before the close 
of the fourth century his authority had a formidable rival in the 
bishop of Constantinople, who, in the council convened at that city, 
was elevated to the second clerical rank in the empire. From this 
period began that contention and animosity which long existed 
between these rivals, and which finally terminated in a final separa- 
tion between the Greek and Latin Churches. This strife frequently 
arose between candidates for the same bishopric. The extensive 
powers and revenues belonging to the principal sees made them 
desirable, and presented a temptation to ambition and avarice 
which even clerical integrity could not resist. A melancholy and 
disgraceful instance of this kind occurred A. D. 336, when the 
vacant see of Rome was, by a greater part of the clergy and 
people, conferred upon Damasus, and the bishops confirmed the 
election by regularly ordaining him. By various intrigues the de- 
signing Ursicinus had obtained ordination to the same see from some 
other bishops, and proceeded to take possession of what he regarded 
as his right. This produced a severe contest, which resulted in 
blows, and even bloodshed and murder. The tumult did not subside 
after the banishment of Ursicinus, whose followers would not com- 
municate with Damasus. They were likewise banished, but soon 
returned with their turbulent leader and excited another rebellion. 



3 2 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

The Council of Aquileia requested the emperor again to banish the 
factious prelate ; but several years elapsed before Damasus obtained 
peaceable possession of his office. This specimen of clerical deprav- 
ity indicated a departure from primitive virtue in the early Church 
of Italy that must have alarmed those who preferred Jerusalem above 
their "chief joy." 

One of the most striking evidences of the growing formality, 
superstition, and corruption of the Italian Church was the increasing 
veneration for the Virgin Mary, which arose in the fourth century, 
and was generally entertained at the beginning of the fifth. Her 
image, holding in her arms the infant Jesus, was honored with a dis- 
tinguished situation in the church, and in many places invoked with 
a peculiar species of worship. Another step toward Romish idolatry 
was the respect shown for the bread consecrated for the sacrament 
of the Lord's-supper. The body, as well as the soul, was supposed 
to feel its efficacy, and it was used as a medicine in sickness. Many 
who traveled by land and by sea carried it w^ith them as a preserva- 
tive against every danger. Some deposited a quantity of it in the 
sepulchers of their departed relations. This practice was condemned 
in the Council of Carthage, but it continued to prevail in succeeding 
centuries. Thus the memorials of the death and sufferings of Jesus 
Christ, which had formerly been celebrated by all Christians on every 
Lord's-day, was attended by very few of the numerous professors 
of Christianity, because they feared that they might receive them 
unworthily. 

A remarkable innovation was also made in the discipline of the 
Church by Leo the Great, who suppressed all public confessions of 
sin. It had been customary for the trembling penitent to confess 
before the assembled congregation, but, in order that the power of 
the clergy might be extended over the consciences of men, a single 
priest was authorized to hear confession in private. This change 
indicated how rapidly the Italian Church was being transformed into 
the papal hierarchy. 

All the magnificent appendages which had characterized pagan 
ceremonies were now interwoven into the fabric of the Church. 
Incense was no longer regarded as an abomination, but smoked upon 
every Christian altar. Even in the day the services of religion were 
performed by the light of tapers and flambeaux. The discovery of 
relics was proportioned to the desire of obtaining them. 

Another branch of superstition originated at this time, and rap- 
idly increased in Italy and the surrounding nations. This was monk- 



CHURCH CO UN CHS. 33 

ery. It was greatly encouraged by the Emperor Constantine, who 
was deeply attached to those that devoted themselves to what they 
called ''divine philosophy." Large numbers of females abandoned 
their elegant homes and all the pleasures of domestic life to dwell in 
deserts and caves. Among these was Paula of Rome, a matron, 
descended from one of the most illustrious families. She, Avith her 
daughter Eulalia, rent asunder every tender domestic tie, and, forsak- 
ing her home, her country, and her weeping children, went to Pales- 
tine, visited Jerome, and accompanied him in his visit to Epiphanius at 
Cyprus. Neither talents nor wealth were demanded of these solitary 
devotees. Hence, the illiterate and indolent discovered in the mo- 
nastic life an agreeable retreat, and were soon elevated to positions 
of peculiar respectability and honor, provided they could assume a 
fervent sanctity and austerity. 

Different motives — religion, fanaticism, hypocrisy — no doubt in- 
fluenced men and women to become monks, because their conduct 
revealed the purpose that had animated them. Many were devout, 
modest, disinterested, and compassionate ; some were censorious, 
austere, and gloomy, and others by intrigue obtained a large part 
of that property which they pretended to renunciate when they 
embraced the monastic life. A fanatical spirit controlled a certain 
class, who voluntarily inflicted upon themselves the severest sufferings 
and deprived themselves of every earthly comfort. While in this 
solitary state they opposed education as a useless thing, if not per- 
nicious, and professed to spend their whole time in silence, medi- 
tation, and prayer. Some were organized into regular societies, and 
devoted themselves to study. Their modes of life made them mel- 
ancholy and visionary, filling them w^ith all the vagaries of a heated 
imagination ; they had prophetic dreams, beheld remarkable visions, 
conversed with the various inhabitants of the invisible world, and 
many closed a life of insanity in wretchedness and despair. 

Various kinds of ecclesiastical councils were held. The first 
species of these consisted in an assembly of the bishops and pres- 
byters of a particular city or district. The second was composed of 
the bishops of several provinces. The oecumenical or general coun- 
cils were convened by the emperor alone, and the rulers of the 
Church in every part of the empire were required to attend. The 
first general council was called by Constantine, A. D. 325, at Nice, in 
Bithynia. Three hundred and eighteen bishops and two thousand 
and forty-eight ecclesiastics were in attendance. The synod was in 
session two months. The emperor frequently took a seat in the 



34 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

assembly, and even participated in the debates. This council con- 
demned the doctrines of Arius, which had many followers in the 
Church of Italy. Jesus Christ was declared to be of the same essence 
with the Father. An effort was made to favor the perpetual celibacy 
of the clergy, but it was not successful. The Homoousian faith, or 
the doctrine of consubstantiality, was indorsed, and matters relating 
to the powers of the clergy and the discipline of the Church 
acted upon. 

During the fourth century the doctrines of the Church received 
more attention than at any preceding period. The schismatic Arius 
asserted that there was a time when the Son of God was not, that he 
was created out of nothing, or that he was of a different substance 
from the Father. He and his followers were solemnly anathema- 
tized by successive councils, and declared the enemies of God. The 
consubstantiality of the three persons in the Godhead was declared a 
fundamental article of the Christian faith. The semi-Arians violently 
attacked the divinity of the Holy Spirit, which was in the general 
council of Constantinople, A. D. 383, discussed and defined, and the 
doctrine of three persons in one God established as the orthodox 
belief of the Church. The Nicene Creedj_ which was accepted by 
the Church of Italy, is thus stated in the epistle of Eusebius to the 
Caesareans, and in the epistle of Athanasius to Jovian: "We believe 
in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and 
invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God ; the only- 
begotten ; begotten of the Father, that is, of the substance of the 
Father ; God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God ; be- 
gotten, not made; consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things 
were made, things in heaven, and things on earth ; who for us 
men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate, and 
became man, suffered, and rose again the third day, and ascended 
into the heavens, and comes to judge the quick and the dead ; and 
in the Holy Ghost. And the catholic and apostolic Church doth 
anathematize those persons who say that there was a time when he, 
the Son of God, was not; that he was not before he was born; that 
he was made of nothing, or of another substance or being; or that 
he is created or changeable or convertible." 

While the maintenance of sound doctrine was of great importance 
to the cause of Christ in Italy, many practices were introduced which 
did not contribute to the promotion of either piety or good morals. 
The minds of the people were confused with difficult and fanatical 
explanations of the Bible. The Christian emperors encouraged super- 



THE POWER AND WEALTH OF THE CLERGY. 35 

stition by erecting costly churches over the remains of saints and 
martyrs, and even the Fathers of the Church beheved that wonderful 
miracles were performed by relics. This veneration for departed 
saints increased until a degree of worship was rendered them, because 
they were supposed to intercede with God in behalf of the worshiper. 
About A. D. 386 some persons asserted that they had received 
extraordinary revelations from heaven, which declared where the 
remains of distinguished martyrs could be found. Their bodies had 
been secretly buried in some obscure place, but when persecution 
ceased they were brought forth and decently interred. This custom, 
to a great extent, gave rise to the translation of relics, many esteem- 
ing it a meritorious act to carry and preserve the bones of martyrs. 
Constantine commanded the bodies of St. Andrew and St. Luke to 
be removed from the sepulchers where they had been deposited to 
the magnificent church at Constantinople, which he had dedicated to 
the twelve apostles. The powers which belonged to the people in 
the election of their ministers produced great scandals in the Church. 
These were at length taken away, and were soon followed by those 
of the presbyters ; but, instead of being lost, were usurped by the- 
bishops, and many of the rights and privileges with which the relig- 
ious community had been formerly invested were obtained by the 
emperor and magistrates. The Bishop of Rome assumed powers 
superior to the other metropolitans, who governed one province 
only ; and the jurisdiction of the bishops differed according to the 
different extent of their respective sees. The famous Council of Nice 
determined the mode of establishing the bishops in their functions 
and offices, and declared that every bishop should be ordained or 
consecrated by three bishops of the province, and that his election 
should be confirmed by the metropolitan. 

The revenues of the Church in Italy were secured by the edict 
of Milan. All that had been lost by the persecution of Diocletian 
was restored, and the establishment continued to be supported by 
voluntary oblations long after Christianity became the religion of the 
emperor and the empire. Full and free permission was granted by 
Constantine to his subjects of bequeathing their possessions to the 
Church ; but while this measure filled the ecclesiastical treasury, it 
encouraged a practice which brought penury and distress to the 
desolate widow and defenseless orphan, and made them a depend- 
ence upon their kindred or upon the alms of the ecclesiastical 
body. The emperors themselves considerably increased the riches, 
of the clerical profession. Constantine bestowed upon the Churches 

4 



36 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

in every city a regular allowance of corn for the purposes of charity, 
and the no less acceptable present of large donations of land. Far 
from aiding the Church these measures were among the causes of 
that apostasy by which it was extensively and deeply injured. 



Chapter V. 

AMBROSE— THE WALDENSES. 

WHILE the Church in the southern part of Italy had become 
formal, and declined in spirituality, the northern section 
remained comparatively pure. This might be attributed to the fact 
that the inhabitants of mountainous regions are less effeminate, more 
virtuous, and stronger in their attachments to civil and religious lib- 
erty than those of the plains, residing in an enervating climate. The 
powerful diocese of Milan, which included the Alps of Piedmont, 
was not tributary to the papal chair as early as the middle of the 
fourth century. In those days the see of Rome embraced only the 
imperial city and neighboring provinces. Pope Pelagius I writes, 
A. D. 555, ''The bishops of Milan do not come to Rome for ordi- 
nation," and declares that "this was an ancient custom of theirs." 
This ecclesiastical independence of Northern Italy prevented the 
corruptions of the Roman see from entering Milan and its diocese. 
The remarkable story of Ambrose, bishop of Milan, has an 
appearance of romance seldom found in real life. He was born 
about A. D. 340 at Treves (Augusta Trevirorum), where his father 
resided as prefect of the praetorium among the Gauls. It is said 
that while he was yet an infant a swarm of bees settled upon his 
mouth, which his father interpreted as a portent of future greatness. 
After his father's death his mother took him to Rome, where he 
received the education of an advocate under Anicius Probus and 
Symmachus. For some time he pleaded at the bar, and his success, 
together with his family influence, led to his appointment, about 
A. D. 370, as consular prefect of Liguria and Emilia, a tract of 
Northern Italy, which extended, as near as can be ascertained, to 
Bologna. It is said that Anicius Probus, the prefect, when he sent 
him to his government, did so in these remarkable words, which 
may wqW be called prophetic, "Go, then, and act, not as judge, but 
as a bishop." Ambrose made Milan his residence; and when Aux- 



AMBROSE ELECTED BISHOP. 37 

entlus, the bishop, died, the people of Milan assembled to elect a 
successor. This the cruel divisions made in the Church by the 
Arian heresy rendered no easy matter ; and the contest was carried 
on between catholics and Arians with such violence that Ambrose 
was obliged to proceed himself to the church, to exhort the people 
to make their election quietly and in order. At the close of his 
speech the whole assembly, catholics and Arians, with one' voice 
demanded him for their bishop. Believing himself to be unworthy 
of so high and responsible an office, he tried all means in his power 
to evade their call ; but in vain, and he was at last constrained to 
yield, A. D. 374. He was yet only a catechumen ; he had then to 
be baptized, and on the eighth day after he was consecrated bishop. 
He devoted himself to his work with unexampled zeal ; gave all his 
property to the Church and poor, and adopted an ascetic mode of 
life. He opposed the Arians from the very beginning of his epis- 
copacy, and soon acquired great influence both with the people and 
the Emperor Valentlnlan. He presided at an episcopal synod in 
Aquileia, summoned by the Emperor Gratian A. D. 382, at which 
the Arian bishops Palladlus and Secundlanus were deposed. 

Ambrose had a severe conflict, A. D. 385, with Justina, mother 
of Valentlnlan H, who demanded the use of at least one church for 
the Arians ; but the people sided with Ambrose, and Justina desisted. 
He excommunicated the Emperor Theodosius, A. D. 390, for the 
massacre at Thessalonica, and did not absolve him till after a penance 
of eight months and a public humiliation. Augustine, the great the- 
ologian and author, was instructed by Ambrose, and converted under 
his preaching. The former, after remaining two years among the 
catechumens, was baptized by the latter at Easter, A. D. 387. Am- 
brose died at Milan, April 4, A. D. 397, having served as bishop 
twenty-three years. His theology and that of his diocese was not 
essentially different from that of the Protestants at the present time. 
The Bible alone was his rule of faith; Christ alone was the foundation 
of the Church ; the justification of the sinner and the remission of sins 
were not of human merit, but by the expiatory sacrifice of the cross; 
there were but too sacraments, baptism and the Lord's-supper, and 
In the latter Christ was held to be present only figuratively. Such, 
according to AUix, is a summary of the faith professed and taught 
by the chief bishop of the north of Italy in the end of the fourth 
century. Hence the evangelical light shone there long after darkness 
had gathered in the southern part of the peninsula. 

Notwithstanding his great talents and ardent piety, Ambrose did 



38 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

not entirely escape the degeneracy of his age. He was not without 
a degree of veneration for rehcs. His writings abound in moral les- 
sons, plentifully interspersed with exhortations to celibacy, and the 
other superstitions of the day. It is also recorded that he performed 
many astonishing miracles. He composed a discourse upon the in- 
carnation, mysteries, and penance, several books concerning faith and 
the Holy Ghost, and many other works, which have been published 
in two volumes, folio. His services to church music were very great ; 
he was the father of *'hymnology" in the Western Church. The 
writings of the early Fathers concur in recording the employment of 
music as a part of public worship, though no regular ritual Avas in 
existence to determine its precise form and use. This appears to 
have been first supplied by Ambrose, who instituted that method of 
singing known by the name of cantus Ainhrosiamis, which is said to 
have had a reference to the modes of the ancients, especially to that 
of Ptolemseus. The effect of the Ambrosian chant is described in 
glowing terms by those who heard it in the cathedral of Milan. 
"The voices," says, Augustine, "flowed in at my ears, truth Avas dis- 
tilled into my heart, and the affection of piety overflowed in sweet 
tears of joy." Ten of the many hymns ascribed to him are generally 
admitted to be genuine, but it is doubtful whether the "Ambrosian 
Hymn," or the Tc Daun, is his production. It is not certain whether 
any genuine relics of the music thus described exist at the present 
time, though the style of singing may have been preserved. The 
writings of Ambrose are numerous, but some of them are of no 
practical importance. 

It was not alone their proximity to the Alps that imparted to the 
inhabitants of Northern Italy a spirit of independence which resisted 
tyranny and corruption in both Church and state. The bracing at- 
mosphere of the mountains had its influence upon their character, 
but they breathed a still more vitalizing air. The purity of apostolic 
Christianity had been maintained in the valleys of Piedmont, and its 
power was felt throughout all that region. It is not improbable that 
Ambrose Avas strengthened in the defense of the true faith by observ- 
ing its elevating effects upon the Waldenses. These people could 
not confine their religion to their oAvn narroAV valleys, but, like the 
pure, sparkling streams that gushed forth from the rugged mountains 
and rolled on to refresh the plains beloAv, it permeated the north 
of Italy. 

The origin of the Waldenses — Vallenses — Vaudois — Valdesi, as 
they are variously called, has been a fruitful source of controA^ersy, 



ORIGIN OF THE WALDENSES. 39 

some tracing their genealogy to the first periods of Christianity, or to 
a less remote time, according to the ingenuity or fancy of different 
historians. Some think that they are the descendants of the Christian 
inhabitants of Spain, whose territory lay in Navarre (a part of Bis- 
cay), who, upon the irruption of the Moors, were driven for refuge 
into the vicinity of the Pyrenean Mountains. In this new situation 
it has been conceived that they assumed new names, agreeable to 
their former or present circumstances, or names composed from dif- 
ferent combinations; and that one of these tribes took their denomi- 
nation from a place near Barcelona, called Vallensia, whence the name 
of Vallenses, Valdenses, or Waldenses, might be easily derived. 
This opinion is attended with many difficulties that render it unpopu- 
lar. Turretine, a Waldensian writer, represents them as originating 
from the Milanese clergy, many of whom refused to repudiate their 
wives at the command of Leo IX, Nicholas II, and Gregory VII. 
With still greater probability, however, they are supposed to have 
been a branch of the Paulicians, who were dispersed in alm.ost all 
the countries of Europe and Asia, and selected a secluded region in 
the Alps. These and other theories do not give to the Waldenses a 
greater antiquity than that which belongs to the period between the 
seventh and eleventh centuries. But Jerome, the famous theologian 
of the Church in the fourth century, unquestionably refers to them as 
then dwelling in the Alps. With the zeal of a new convert, he assailed 
a Spanish priest, called Vigilantius, on account of religious opinions 
similar in some respects to those held by the Waldenses. Vigilan- 
tius, bitterly persecuted in Spain, fled into Italy, and concealed him- 
self, says Jerome, in a region which is between the Alps of King 
Cottius and the waves of the Adriatic Sea. There all the inhabitants 
had the same religious opinions as Vigilantius, and even the bishops- 
cherished him, ** though, " observes Jerome, ''I can not recognize 
them as bishops, because they would ordain not even a deacon if he 
has no wife." Evidently that region w^as the eastern side of the Cot- 
tian Alps, where the Waldenses lived. After having spent nine \'ears 
there, Vigilantius returned to Spain, full of zeal for the truth, and 
published the most uncompromising treatise against the growing 
superstitions of the age. It was probably owing to the residence of 
Vigilantius among them that the name ''Leonist" was applied to 
the Waldensians, for he being a native of Leo in the Pyrenees, was 
often called the Leonist in Italy. It is a fact that the doctrines 
advocated by him in his book, in many points, are the same as those 
of the Waldensian Church. 



40 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

The marriage of priests has always been maintained as most 
desirable by the Waldensian Church in the Cottian Alps. Upon this 
point we have the testimony of Peter Damian, another doctor of the 
Church in early ages. One of his letters is to Adelaide, marchioness 
of the Cottian Alps, to excite her to help the local bishop in the holy 
work of destroying the married clergymen who resided in a part of 
her dominions. "Thy are new Siseras," says he; **the bishop will 
be a new Barak, and you must be a new Deborah." In this Scriptural 
language the new saint goes on insinuating that while the new Barak 
deals with the husbands, the new Deborah should kill the wives. 

The most reliable theory, therefore, concerning the origin of the 
Waldenses is, that they Avere among the first inhabitants of Italy who 
embraced Christianity. History does not reveal who first preached 
the Gospel to them ; but it is probable that the early missionaries, 
going out from Rome soon after the time of Paul, penetrated these 
mountains, for the road from Italy to France and Spain passed that 
way. If Paul ever made his proposed journey into Spain (Rom. xv, 
28), he would probably travel that road, and may have been the first 
Christian preacher to these "men of the valleys." The name Vmt- 
dois was first given to them because they resided in the valleys (or 
vatLx) of Piedmont. They were "men of the valleys" from time out 
of mind, and before the dukes of Savoy became princes of Piedmont. 
While there may be differences of opinion concerning their ethnolog- 
ical history, the antiquity and purity of their religious faith and prac- 
tice are generally conceded. The testimony which they give of 
themselves is, that their fathers occupying those same valleys held the 
same faith from the days of the apostles. Their traditions invariably 
point to an unbroken descent from apostolic days, as regards their 
religious belief. The Nobla Ley con, which dates from A. D. iioo, 
shows that they were not established by Peter Waldo, of Lyons, who 
did not appear until A. D. 1160, though they may have derived the 
names Vallenses, or Waldenses, from him after he had visited them. 

Their greatest enemies, Reynerius, the Jesuit, A. D. 1250, and 
Claude Seyssel, of Turin, A. D. 15 17, have admitted their antiquity, 
and stigmatized them as "the most dangerous of all heretics, because 
the m.ost ancient." In a petition presented A. D. 1559 to the per- 
secuting Philbert, Emanuel, duke of Savoy and prince of Piedmont, 
the Waldenses say : ' ' We likew^ise beseech your royal highness to 
consider that this religion is not only ours, nor hath it been invented 
by men of late years, as is falsely reported, but it was the religion of 
our fathers and grandfathers and great grandfathers, and other yet 



THE STATEMENTS OF THEIR ENEMIES. 41 

more ancient predecessors of ours, and of the blessed martyrs, con- 
fessors, prophets, and apostles, and if they can prove the contraiy we 
are ready to subscribe and yield thereto." Rorenco, Prior of St. 
Roch, Turin, A. D. 1640, was employed to investigate their origin 
and antiquity, and of course had access to all the Waldensian docu- 
ments in the ducal archives, and being their bitter enemy he may 
be presumed to have made his report not more favorable than he 
could help. Yet he states that * ' they were not a new sect in the 
ninth and tenth centuries, and that Claude of Turin must have de- 
tached them from the Church in the ninth century." 

It is also remarkable that their persecuting princes in replying to 
their petitions and addresses never accused them of being apostates 
from the Romish Church. If their claims to antiquity could have 
been denied with decent plausibility, these learned princes and priests, 
instead of passing over in silence such pretensions, would have 
attempted to disprove them. The testimony of Jerome, that the 
Waldenses in the fourth century were so distinguished for their 
orthodoxy and piety as to attract Vigilantius from Spain, remains 
unimpeached. 



Chapter VL 

THE GOTHS IN ITALY. 

ABOUT the beginning of the fifth century Alaric, king of the 
Visigoths, attracted by the beauty and wealth of Italy, crossed 
the Alps and appeared under the walls of Milan. Honorius, who 
ruled the Western Empire, was alarmed at the invading host, and 
took refuge in the strong fortress of Ravenna. Stilicho, a famous 
warrior of Italy, hastily gathered a powerful army, and inflicted a 
crushing defeat upon the Goths in the neighborhood of Pollentia, 
about twenty-five miles from Turin, on the 29th of March, A. D. 
403. The Gothic infantry was almost totally destroyed; but Alaric, 
with his cavalry, which was comparatively uninjured, marched rap- 
idly upon Rome, hoping to capture it by a coup-de-mam. Stilicho 
followed him closely, and prevented the execution of his design; and 
desiring to be rid of the enemy on the easiest terms, the Roman 
general paid Alaric a stipulated sum, and conducted him safely to 
the boundary of his kingdom. The departure of the barbarians was 



42 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

celebrated in Rome with great rejoicings. In the midst of the games 
Telemachus, a Christian monk, sprang into the arena, and, raising 
the cross above his head, commanded the gladiators, in the name of 
their crucified Lord, to cease their inhuman sport. The enraged 
multitude stoned him to death, but subsequently, overwhelmed with 
remorse for their crime, acknowledged him a martyr. Honorius, 
taking advantage of the occasion, prohibited human combats in the 
amphitheater. The seat of government was now transferred from 
Milan to Ravenna, which, on account of its situation, was impreg- 
nable, and it remained the capital of Italy until the middle of the 
eighth century. 

The Vandals, a new host of barbarians, burst into Italy, A. D. 
405, passing the Alps, the Po, and the Apennines without opposition, 
and ravaging with fire and sword the region between the Alps and 
the Arno before Stilicho could collect an army to oppose them. 
Radegaste, the savage leader of the barbarians, had sworn a solemn 
oath to reduce Rome to ashes, and to sacrifice the senators to his 
gods. Detained before Florence by the stubborn resistance of that 
city, he refrained from moving southward until he had conquered it. 
Profiting by this delay, Stilicho advanced with his troops, and by his 
superior generalship defeated the formidable host of the barbarians, 
slew Radegaste, and compelled the remnant of his army, about one 
hundred thousand strong, to withdraw from Italy. Stilicho despised 
the weakness of Honorius, and resolved to remove him and place his 
own son upon the throne. The enemies of the great general, sus- 
pecting a conspiracy, obtained the consent of the emperor to put him 
to death; but his execution was a calamity, as he was the only man 
who could contend with the barbarians. The friends of Honorius 
alienated the only force that was capable of resisting the Goths by 
a general massacre of the families of the foreign auxiliaries wlio had 
been left in the Italian cities as hostages for the faithful service of 
these troops. The latter swore vengeance upon the murderers of 
their wives and children, and invited Alaric to invade Italy, promis- 
ing him assistance. 

The Gothic king gladly accepted the invitation, and at once 
crossed the Alps, marched upon Rome, and closely invested the 
city, which was soon reduced to extremities. By the payment of an 
enormous ransom, Alaric Avas induced to retire and Rome was spared. 
The barbarian general withdrew into Tuscany, where he spent the 
Winter. During negotiations with Honorius he was grossly insulted, 
and again besieged Rome to gratify his revenge, and by seizing the 



ITAL V UNDER BARBARIAN R ULE. 43 

fort of Ostia, where the grain for the use of the capital was stored, 
he starved the city into an unconditional surrender. Alaric entered 
Rome by night on the lOth of August, A. D. 410, the gates having 
been opened by the slaves, forty thousand of whom assisted the 
Gothic king, and thus repaid in full the wrongs they had suffered at 
the hands of their masters. The city was given up to murder and 
pillage during a period of five days. The scene was dreadful, for, 
though the conqueror in his magnanimity had given orders that none 
except the armed should be killed, many citizens were slain and larger 
numbers still were reduced from affluence to want and captivity. 
Rome for ages had been a repository for the plunder of the world, 
embracing the choicest spoils of conquered countries, such as gold, 
silver, jewels, silks, Grecian sculptures, and other rare, costly arti- 
cles. These were remorselessly seized and carried off by the Goths, 
and much that could not be removed was destroyed. The most 
ancient and valuable monuments of art and learning were leveled 
with the ground. Alaric, the Arian invader, professing to be a Chris- 
tian, declared that he made war upon the Romans, not upon the 
apostles, and he therefore spared all the churches, even granting life 
and liberty both to the pagans and Christians who took refuge in 
the sacred edifices dedicated to the apostles, or at the tombs of the 
martyrs. The holy vessels which had been pillaged from the Church 
of St. Peter were also restored by the victorious barbarians. Thus 
the great city, which had not for more than six hundred years been 
violated by the presence of a foreign enemy, was sacked, plundered, 
and partially burnt. 

At length the Goths withdrew from Rome, and marching along 
the Appian way overran Southern Italy, contemplating the conquest 
of Sicily and Africa, but the death of Alaric suddenly terminated the 
expedition. The waters of the Busentius were diverted from their 
channel by the labor of the captive Romans, and in the vacant bed a 
sepulcher was constructed and adorned with the spoils and trophies 
of Rome. In this tomb the body of Alaric was laid, and the waters 
were turned back in their channel. The prisoners who engaged in 
the work were then inhumanly massacred, lest they should reveal the 
secret of the tomb. Honorius died, A. D. 423, after a reign of 
twenty-eight years, and the throne was usurped by John, his princi- 
pal secretary; but he was beheaded by the troops of Theodosius II, 
at Aquileia, A. D. 425. Valentinian III, the legal successor, being 
only six years of age, his mother, Placidia, as regent, governed the 
empire during the next twenty-five years. Attila, king of the Huns, 



44 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

invaded North-eastern Italy, A. D. 453, captured and destroyed the 
cities of Aquileia, Altinum, Concordia, and Padua, and sacked Milan 
and Pavia. A result which the Hun did not foresee and would not 
have desired sprang from this destruction. The inhabitants of Aqui- 
leia, Padua, and the adjacent towns fled from the cruelties of the 
barbarians to the safe but humble shelter of the islands at the head 
of the Adriatic, and there laid the foundations of the famous republic 
of Venice. Attila then advanced southward, intending to take and 
destroy Rome. An embassy headed by Pope Leo the Great met 
him, and the solemn appeal of the pontiff aroused the superstitious 
fears of the barbarian, and he retired to his own dominions. 

Valentinian was slain, A. D. 455, by Maximus, a wealthy senator, 
whom he had wronged, and the latter ascended the throne, but 
reigned less than three months. Eudoxia, the widow of Valentinian, 
being compelled to marry the assassin of her husband, besought aid 
from Genseric, the Vandal king of Africa, whose fleet commanded 
the Mediterranean, and that monarch responded to her appeal, eager 
to enrich himself with the spoils of Italy. He landed at Ostia, and 
in a short time seized Rome, which was pillaged by his troops for 
fourteen days. Not even the churches which Alaric had protected 
were spared, and the city was literally stripped of its wealth of every 
description. At length, laden with plunder, the barbarians sailed for 
Carthage, taking with them Eudoxia and her two daughters. This 
terrible disaster so paralyzed the Romans that they delayed the 
appointment of a successor to Maximus, whom they had slain. Dur- 
ing the next twenty years the throne was occupied by eight different 
sovereigns, whose brief reigns Avere unimportant. The barbarians 
proclaimed Odoacer King of Italy, A. D. 476, and thus fell the 
Western Empire. 



f^krt 11. 



PAPAL DARKNESS PREVALENT. 

CENTURY VI-XIV. 



Chapter L 

THE REIGN OF THE LOMBARDS. 



WHEN the sixth century dawned upon Italy it beheld one of 
the most tranquil and flourishing countries in the world. 
Theodoric extended the boundaries of his kingdom to the north, 
east, and west, and, besides Italy and Sicily, ruled Dalmatia, Nori- 
cum, the two Rhaetias, Pannonia, and Provence. During the minority 
of his grandson, Amalaric, the king of the Visigothic monarchy in 
Gaul and Spain, he managed the affairs of those nations with wisdom. 
Though an Arian himself, Theodoric tolerated all forms of belief in 
his dominions, and this liberal policy drew upon him the wrath of 
the Roman Catholic party. The Eastern emperor, Anastasius, was 
jealous of such a powerful servant, and attacked the kingdom of 
Theodoric from the direction of the Danube, but was defeated by 
the warrior king with an inferior force. The last years of this mon- 
arch were in striking contrast with the opening of his reign. Soured 
by the ingratitude of his people, he became suspicious and cruel. 
Boethius, a Roman senator, was put to death on the charge of plot- 
ting to restore the authority of the Eastern emperor, and his execu- 
tion was soon followed by that of Symmachus, his venerable father- 
in-law. Remorse for these crimes hastened the end of Theodoric 
himself, and he died, A. D. 526. Had he been more a statesman he 
might have founded an enduring state by a union of the Goths and 
the Romans ; but he did not seem to desire a consolidated empire. 
Instead of claiming the title of King of Italy, he appeared satisfied 
with mere dominion over his own Goths. His kingdom did not long 
survive him. 

45 



46 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Theodoric was succeeded by his grandson Athalaric ; but, as he 
was only ten years old, the regency passed into the hands of his 
mother, Amalasontha, the daughter of Theodoric, who was assisted 
by the wise counsels of her minister, Cassiodorus. Her son failed 
to profit by her care and instruction, and indulged in riotous living 
and excesses of all kinds. Being punished by his mother, he 
appealed to the Goths^ to sustain him, and the queen regent was 
compelled to resign the authority to him. He did not enjoy it long, 
but died at the age of sixteen from the effects of intemperance. 
Amalasontha, in violation of Gothic law and custom, then endeav- 
ored to retain the throne by conferring her hand upon her cousin, 
Theodatus, and raising him to the rank of king. Theodatus, how- 
ever, refused to be ruled by a woman, and caused his wife to be 
strangled, A. D. 535. 

The Emperor Justinian, who had been eagerly watching for a 
pretext to regain Italy, now constituted himself the avenger of 
Amalasontha, and prepared to invade the peninsula with a force 
under the command of Belisarius. Sicily was conquered toward the 
close of A. D. 535. The next year Belisarius crossed to the main- 
land. The chief strength of the Ostrogoths was in the north of 
Italy, and the Greek influence was strong enough in the south to 
render its conquest by the imperial forces an easy matter. The 
southern Italians welcomed Belisarius as a deliverer, but the barba- 
rian garrison of Naples held out against him. The city was taken 
by surprise, and upon its fall Apulia and Calabria were restored to 
the empire. Advancing northward, Belisarius entered Rome, which 
opened its gates to him with joy, A. D. 536. 

Assembling a powerful Gothic army, Viteges, the successor of The- 
odatus, laid siege to Rome, which was bravely defended by Belisarius, 
with an inferior force, for more than a year. During this siege the 
sepulcher of Hadrian, now known as the Castle of St. Angelo, was 
used for the first time as a fortress. In their attacks upon the city 
the Goths met with heavy losses ; thirty thousand men fell in the 
principal assault ; and Viteges was compelled to draw off his deci- 
mated army to Ravenna, leaving Belisarius master of Italy. This 
great general could easily have conquered the entire country but for 
the dissensions of the Roman chiefs. Valuable time was lost, and 
the Goths were given a breathing spell. Ten thousand Burgundians, 
allies of the Gothic kings, captured and destroyed Milan, which had 
revolted from Viteges, A. D. 538. The next Spring Theodebert, the 
grandson of Clovis, passed the Alps at the head of one hundred 



TOTILA CAPTURES ROME. 47 

thousand Franks, and defeated both the Roman and the Gothic 
armies near Pavia, and ravaged Liguria and ^EmiUa until his losses 
from disease and the intemperance of his troops obliged him to return 
to his own country. 

Belisarius now applied himself to the completion of the conquest 
of Italy, He laid siege to Ravenna, and reduced that impregnable 
city by famine. The Goths, weary of Viteges, proposed to deliver 
up the city to Belisarius if he would make himself their king. He 
pretended to accept the proposal, but upon obtaining possession 
threw off the mask and declared that he held the city only as the 
lieutenant of the emperor. Pavia, garrisoned by one thousand Goths, 
alone held out ; and these warriors elevated Totila, the nephew of 
Viteges, to the vacant throne. Before Belisarius could attack this 
stronghold he was recalled to Constantinople by the emperor, who 
had become jealous of his fame. Totila at once attempted to regain 
all that had been lost by his uncle. Many cities which had welcomed 
Belisarius as a deliverer had been so sorely oppressed by the Byzan- 
tine officials that they now gladly opened their gates to Totila. 
Rome was taken, A. D. 546, the senators carried away as prisoners, 
and its people scattered. The noble character of Totila Avon him 
friends on all sides, and it seemed that he was about to restore the 
Gothic kingdom in all its strength. Such rapid and marked success 
compelled Justinian to restore Belisarius to the command in Italy; 
but the emperor could not overcome his jealousy of his great gen- 
eral, and sent him to Italy without troops, and delayed those which 
were ordered to follow him. Belisarius soon discovered that he was 
sent to remain ' ' the idle and impotent spectator of the glory of a 
young barbarian." Crossing to the coast of Epirus, he succeeded by 
extraordinary exertions in assembling a small force, with which he 
sailed to the mouth of the Tiber. He arrived in time to witness the 
capture of Rome by Totila ; and, though he was too weak to prevent 
this, he succeeded by his firm and temperate remonstrance in induc- 
ing Totila to spare the city which he had resolved to destroy. Upon 
his departure for Southern Italy he failed to leave an adequate force 
behind him ; and Belisarius with a thousand horse seized the deserted 
city, and, erecting the imperial standard upon the Capitol, succeeded 
in inducing the scattered population to return. The fortifications 
were repaired, and Totila was repulsed with severe loss in his efforts 
to retake Rome, A. D. 547. The jealousy of the emperor still con- 
tinued to embarrass Belisarius, and he was unable to follow up his 
success. His movements in Southern Italy were defeated by the 



48 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

disobedience and cowardice of his own officers. Finding it impossi- 
ble to accomplish any thing in the face of such obstacles, he sought 
and obtained leave to return to Constantinople, A. D. 548. 

After overrunning Italy, conquering Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, 
and invading Greece, Totila again captured Rome, A. D. 549. These 
successes induced the pope himself to head a deputation to Justinian, 
imploring his aid against the Goths. The emperor dispatched a 
strong force under the eunuch Narses, a man of commanding abili- 
ties, and a favorite of the emperor. Narses was invested with abso- 
lute power for the prosecution of the war, and was liberally supported 
by the emperor. He succeeded in regaining the lost territory, and 
defeated and slew Totila in a great battle near Tagina. Rome at 
once passed into his hands, A. D. 552, changing masters for the 
fifth time during the reign of Justinian. Under the title of duke, 
Narses, gaining some other victories, governed Italy with ability for 
thirteen years, A. D. 554-568. 

Teias, the last Gothic king in Italy, succeeded to the throne of 
Totila, and sought aid of the Franks ; but before it could reach him 
he was defeated and killed at Cumae. A force of seventy-five thou- 
sand Germans subsequently passed the Alps, and ravaged Italy to 
the extreme southern end of the peninsula ; but Narses defeated 
them with terrible slaughter at Casilinum, on the Vulturnus. All 
Italy was now subject to the emperor, and the Ostrogothic kingdom, 
after an existence of sixty years, was at an end. The seat of the 
exarchate of Italy was at Ravenna, and the first exarch, or lieutenant 
of the emperor, Narses, ruled the country successfully. The Goths 
either emigrated in search of new homes or were absorbed into the 
mass of the Italian people. 

The destruction of the Gothic power in Italy produced a result 
which the emperor had not seen. During the life of Theodoric and 
his daughter Amalasontha the Goths had faithfully guarded the im- 
portant barrier of the Upper Danube against the Gepidae, who had 
since the days of Attila occupied, on the opposite banks of the Dan- 
ube, the plains of Hungary and the Transylvania hills. The necessi- 
ties of the Goths in Italy compelled them to evacuate Pannonia and 
Noricum for the defense of their Italian possessions against the im- 
perial arms. Those regions were instantly occupied by the Gepidae, 
who, not content with these acquisitions, threatened to burst into 
Italy. To defeat them Justinian called on the Lombards, or Lango- 
bards (Long Beards), who had moved from the eastern banks of the 
Elbe down to the Upper Danube. The Lombard king, Audoin, 



THE LOMBARD RULERS. 49 

accepted the invitation, and, entering Pannonia with his troops, 
began a war with the Gepida^, which lasted for thirty years. At his 
death he was succeeded by his son Alboin, who had greatly distin- 
guished himself by his savage bravery. Alboin, finding the Gepidae 
too formidable to be defeated by his own people, made an alliance 
with the Avars, and the result was the extermination of the Gepida^. 
Alboin slew Cummund, king of the Gepidas, in a single combat, 
and married the beautiful daughter of that monarch, A. D. 566. 
The Avars received the lands of the Gepidae for their services, and 
the Lombards were obliged to seek new homes. The Avay to Italy 
was open, and they resolved to invade that country. Justin II, the 
nephew of Justinian, succeeded the latter, A. D. 565 ; and, having 
degraded and removed Narses from the exarchate, was alarmed at 
the approach of the fierce warriors of the North, because he had no 
servant to resist their advance. 

Narses, desiring to avenge the insult he received from the em- 
peror, urged Alboin to take possession of the country, and the Lom- 
bard king, after crossing the Julian Alps, A. D. 568, soon made 
himself master of Italy as far as Ravenna and Rome. Pavia alone 
resisted him in a three years' siege, but was taken, A. D. 571, and 
made the capital of the Lombard kingdom, which was divided into 
thirty duchies. Alboin did not long enjoy his success. Having mor- 
tally affronted Rosamond, his wife, by compelling her to drink from 
the skull of her father, she organized a conspiracy against him, and 
he was slain by the conspirators, A. D. 573. Rosamond and her 
lover, the latter of whom was the principal actor in the tragedy, fled 
to the court of the exarch of Ravenna. Longinus, the exarch, be- 
coming enamored of the beautiful queen, offered her his hand in 
marriage, and she undertook to remove Helmichis, her lover, by 
poison, in order to accept the offer. Helmichis discovered her treach- 
ery, and compelled her to drink also of the fatal cup. He then 
expired a few moments before the queen. 

Upon the death of Alboin, the Lombard chiefs elected Cleph, or 
Clepho, the bravest of themselves, to be king. He was assassinated, 
A. D. 574, and for the next ten years the kingdom had no regular 
government, and was ruled by thirty dukes. Each chief seized some 
city for himself Some of them attempted to invade the territories of 
the German tribes beyond the Alps, and the people of Rome besought 
aid of the Emperor Tiberius, who succeeded Julian II, A. D. 578. 
The emperor, unable to assist them, bribed Chilperic, the Prankish 
king, to invade Italy and expel the Lom.bards from the peninsula. 



50 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

In this emergency, the Lombards conferred their crown upon Autha- 
ris, the son of Cleph, who defeated the Franks, and compehed them 
to return to their own country, A. D. 584. The last Prankish inva- 
sion was led by Childebert, who was encouraged to it by the Emperor 
Maurice, who ascended the throne, A. D. 582. Autharis completely 
baffled the Prankish sovereign by his prudence and superior general- 
ship, and declining an engagement, allowed the heat of Summer to 
defeat his antagonist. The victorious Lombard extended his king- 
dom to the southern extremity of the peninsula, where he founded 
the great duchy of Benevento. He confirmed -the various dukes in 
their authority on condition of their paying him half of their reve- 
nues, and serving under his command in times of war, with troops 
levied within their respective jurisdictions. This is regarded by some 
as the origin of the feudal system. Autharis died, A. D. 590, and 
his widow, Theodolinda, was intrusted by the Lombards with the 
choice of his successor. She conferred the crown and her hand upon 
Agilulf, duke of Turin. She converted her husband and many of 
his subjects from the Arian to the Catholic faith, and was rewarded 
by Pope Gregory the Great with the famous Iron Croivn of Lombardy, 
which is still preserved in the Cathedral of Milan, and which is said 
to have been made of one of the nails of the true cross ! Gregory, 
whose birth, rank, and literary abilities acquired him, in this age of 
ignorance, the appellation of Great, occupied the papal throne more 
than thirteen years, his reign having been terminated by death, A. D. 
604. Another celebrated son of the Church in Italy was Benedict, 
a native of Norcia. He was born about A. D. 480, and, at the age 
of fourteen, attended school at Rome. Disgusted with the corrup- 
tions of the Church and the city, he ran away and concealed himself 
for three years in a cave at Subianco. He retired to Monte Cassino, 
A. D. 529, converted the ''Temple of Apollo" into a monastery, and 
introduced a new system of rules for the government of monastic 
establishments. This monk died, A. D. 543, but his system extended 
over Western Europe. Among the Benedictines of the Middle Ages 
were two hundred cardinals and four thousand bishops. 



ITAL V IN PAPAL DARKNESS. 5 1 



Chapter II. 

ITALY IN PAPAL DARKNESS. 

THE condition of Italy during the seventh century was truly 
sad and deplorable. As a general thing the Lombards ruled 
-their territories with wisdom and firmness, but the state of the ex- 
archate was one of anarchy. It was a period when individual rights 
were not acknowledged or respected, and when the strongest man 
alone was sure of any thing. "Conquest, spoliation, and insecurity 
had done their work. Wave after wave had passed over the surface 
of the old Roman state and obliterated almost all the landmarks of 
the ancient time. . The towns, to be sure, still remained, but stripped 
of their old magnificence, and thinly peopled by the dispossessed 
inhabitants of the soil, who congregated together for mutual support. 
Trade was carried on, but subject to the exactions, and sometimes 
the open robberies, of the avaricious chieftains who had reared their 
fortresses on the neighboring heights. Large tracts of country lay 
waste and desolate, or were left to the happy fertility of nature in the 
growth of spontaneous woods. Marshes were formed over whole 
districts, and the cattle picked up an uncertain existence by browsing 
over great expanses of poor and uninclosed land. These flocks and 
herds were guarded by hordes of armed serfs, who camped beside 
them on the field, and led a life not unlike that of their remote an- 
cestors on the steppes of Tartary." Such was the condition of Italy, 
and, indeed, of all Europe. 

Amid this darkness and neglect, agriculture, which had become 
almost a lost art, was restored by the Benedictine monks, who had 
established monasteries in various parts of Italy. The wise founder 
of the Order, St. Benedict, fearing that many evils would arise from 
the assembling under a single roof of a number of idle persons, 
enjoined upon his followers *'to beware of idleness as the greatest 
enemy of the soul." They were directed to cultivate the soil and to 
perform the various duties belonging to the domestic service of their 
convents. "No person," he said, "is ever more usefully employed 
than when working with his hands, or following the plow, providing 
food for the use of man." These instructions soon produced their 
legitimate effects. Labor was rescued from the degradation into which 

5 



52 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

it had fallen, and those who ministered at the holy altars of religion 
were not ashamed to work with their hands. The lands attached to 
the monasteries were better cultivated than any other, and these exam- 
ples of the most approved methods of cultivation encouraged industry. 
The monasteries also became retreats of learning in this period of 
darkness and violence, and in them was preserved whatever of educa- 
tion and culture had survived the Roman overthrow. In these places 
of refuge the scholar found protection, and the leisure and means of 
pursuing his congenial studies. 

The Church did not escape the contaminating influence of this era 
of ignorance and immorality. Ambitious contests arrayed the differ- 
ent orders against each other, and as the Church grew in prosperity 
it became more corrupt. The elegant scholarship which was once 
characteristic of the clergy disappeared, and often a bishop could be 
found who could neither read nor write, and was notoriously profli- 
gate. The bishops and monks were frequently engaged in bitter 
conflicts, and the latter were oppressed by the former. The Roman 
pontiff interfered in behalf of the monks, taking them under his 
special protection, relieving them from the supervision of their local 
bishops, and making them directly dependent upon and responsible 
to himself. By this stroke of policy he secured the enthusiastic sup- 
port of the most compact and influential body in Europe. Their 
power was completely established by Boniface IV, A. D. 606, whose 
attachment to them was such that he converted his house at Rome 
into a monastery. This prelate granted to the monks authority to 
preach, to baptize, to hear confession, and to absolve, and, in fine, 
to perform every clerical function. These favors were appreciated by 
the followers of St. Benedict, and they went forth proclaiming the 
pope to be the first of earthly powers, even speaking of him, in the 
enthusiasm of their gratitude, as something more than mortal. Thus 
the authority and influence of the papacy were securely established 
as a firm foundation upon which the temporal claims of the Roman 
pontiff were subsequently based. 

During the seventh century the Eastern and Western Churches 
were convulsed with religious disputes between the Monophysite and 
Monothelite parties concerning the union of the two natures in Christ, 
one asserting the existence of a single will, and the other, of two 
wills in the person of the incarnate Son of God. The pontificates 
of Honorius, Severian, John IV, and Theodore, who began to reign 
A. D. 642, were disturbed by these controversies. Pope Martin I, 
on account of his views, was removed from Rome by the opposite 



CLERICAL AUTHORITY AND SUPERSTITION. 53 

party, and exiled to Naxos, a small island in the Archipelago. He 
experienced extraordinary hardships, and after enduring captivity, 
disease, and insult, was summoned before the senate, refused the in- 
dulgence of a seat, though too weak to stand, and was charged with 
treason against the state. His powerful address, in which he proved 
his innocence, was ineffectual, and, after being divested of his sacer- 
dotal garments he was loaded with chains and led through the city, 
preceded by the executioner, bearing a drawn sword. For some 
reason he was not then put to death, but was thrown into successive 
prisons and finally sent into banishment, where he died, A. D. 656, 
in extreme poverty and distress. In order to unite, and, if possible, 
to restore peace to the Church, Agatho, the Roman pontiff, convened 
at Constantinople, in November, A. D. 680, a General Council, called 
the sixth. It continued until the following September, and confirmed 
the decrees of the Romish synods by the condemnation of the 
Monothelites. 

At first the pretended successors of Peter faintly urged their claims 
to dominion and supremacy, but they became more ambitious as 
their power increased. The bishops of Rome denounced those of the 
Eastern Church for accepting new titles, but at the same time they 
were eagerly seeking them for themselves. The artful Boniface III, 
who had for some time resided as nuncio at the imperial court, did 
not hesitate to insinuate himself into the good opinion of the infamous 
Phocas, nor to receive with gratitude the effects of his favor. The 
Romish patriarchs were permitted to assume the title of oecumenical 
or universal bishops, but it did not confer any new powers. The 
title of pope, which, in fact, merely signifies the name of father, was. 
equally bestowed upon the Bishop of Rome and those who possessed 
the other considerable sees ; and Cyprian had been complimented with, 
the title of Pope of Carthage, by Cornelius, Bishop of Rome. About: 
the seventh century the 'prelates of the Roman see began, however, 
to appropriate this title to themselves. But it is impossible to satisfy 
the demands of ambition and vanity, and Agatho, not content with 
the honors already acquired, laid claim to a privilege never yet en- 
joyed by man, and asserted that the Church at Rome never had 
erred, nor could err in any point, and that all its constitutions ought 
to be as implicitly received as if they had been delivered by the ''di- 
vine voice of St. Peter." 

The different fathers of the Romish Church endeavored to excel: 
each other in the invention of new superstitions, and thought that 
they could not be zealous champions of the holy faith unless they 



54 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

ignored truth and reason. The sacrament of the Lord's -supper, 
which, in the first stages of the Church had been received with the 
utmost plainness and simphcity, was now accompanied by various 
superstitious observances prescribed by the authority of councils. 
The council of Toledo, A. D. 646, prohibited any one from receiving 
it after having eaten the smallest particle of food ; and that of Trulla 
confirmed this decree, with the addition of a command to the receiver 
to take it stretching out his hands in the form of a cross. The 
superstitious opinion prevailed that the euchafistical wine, when 
mixed with ink, rendered the contract with which it was signed 
peculiarly sacred. The doctrine of the efficacy of masses repeated 
by ecclesiastics was strenuously urged, and became a fruitful source 
of wealth. Pilgrimages afforded a profit not less considerable, and 
devout visitors to the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul, at Rome, 
were taught by the priests to believe that great spiritual benefits 
would be derived from these acts of practical piety. The people, 
the clergy, and the civil rulers in Italy were equally infected with the 
most desperate superstition. 

During this century various festivals were instituted by the Romish 
Church and observed throughout Italy, among which were those in 
honor of the Virgin Mary. Her departure from the world was com- 
memorated by the faithful, and toward the close of the century the 
feast of her nativity was established. Few of the saints had, indeed, 
been forgotten in the distribution of celestial honors ; but Boniface 
IV obtained a grant of the Pantheon at Rome ; and, in order that no 
one might be neglected, he piously dedicated it to all the saints. 
The edifice, therefore, wdiich among the pagans had served as a 
memorial of all the gods, was consecrated by the papal Church to 
the remembrance of all its saints. 



Chapter III. 

ITALY UNDER PRANKISH RU LE. 



UNTIL the beginning of the eighth century the Italians had 
regarded themselves as the subjects of the emperor, though he 
had not always protected them. Even the Bishop of Rome, who 
was a temporal prince, and did not hesitate to maintain his inde- 
pendence against the exarch, still acknowledged allegiance to the 





EXTERIOR. 

THE PANTHEON. 



56 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Eastern emperor. But when Leo III inaugurated the iconoclastic 
war, A. D. 726, a serious and determined opposition to it was aroused 
in Italy. Pope Gregory II, who had strongly resisted the attempts of 
Leo III respecting image worship, endeavored to soften his resent- 
ment by claiming great merit for the measures he had taken in Italy 
in restraining the growing power of the Lombards, and wrote to the 
emperor, earnestly entreating him to revoke the imperial edict against 
one of the most cherished practices of the Latin Church. Leo III 
refused to comply with this request, and sent private orders to the 
exarch of Ravenna and to the governor of Rome to arrest the con- 
tentious prelate and bring him to Constantinople. Thus a great 
breach was opened between the empire and Italy, which widened 
daily. The people of Rome were too little attached to Leo III to 
suffer the execution. of this order, and Gregory II, aware of this 
fact, excommunicated the exarch, and by letters exhorted the Vene- 
tians, with Luitprand, king of the Lombards, and all the cities of 
the empire to continue steadfast in the Roman Catholic faith. He 
also absolved the people of Rome from their allegiance to the 
emperor, and, it is said, would not permit the annual payment of 
tribute from Italy into the imperial treasury. This step was the 
signal of revolt ; the imperial officers were massacred or banished ; 
the people of Rome refused to acknowledge the authority of the 
emperor, and new magistrates were chosen. 

Leo III made a desperate effort to retrieve his fortunes in Italy, 
to relieve the exarch, Eutychius, who was shut up in Ravenna, and 
to reduce the refractory Gregory II and Italy to obedience. Manes, 
one of his bravest and most experienced generals, sailed for the 
peninsula with a great fleet ; but it encountered a terrible storm on 
the Adriatic, a large part of the ships were lost, and the "image 
worshipers on the coast of Calabria beheld their shores strewn with 
the wrecks of the iconoclastic navy." The inhabitants of Naples mur- 
dered their duke, Exhiliratus, the imperial governor, together with 
his son and one of his principal officers. The peace between Gregory 
II and the Lombards was broken by Luitprand, who took Ravenna, 
and then began to overrun the Roman territory. The pope made 
an alliance with the Venetians, and retook the city. He was enthu- 
siastically supported by the Italians, who disliked the emperor because 
he was the champion of iconoclasm. Yet Gregory II hesitated to 
throw off definitely his allegiance to Leo III, as he needed an ally 
against the Lombards, who were pressing him hard. Finding that it 
was impossible to obtain the assistance of the emperor, he finally 



PEPIN IN ITAL Y. 57 

appealed to Charles Martel, duke of the Franks, and the real ruler 
of the Frankish kingdom, for aid. In the midst of the negotiations 
Gregory II died, A. D. 731 ; but his successor, Gregory III, took up 
the struggle with equal vigor. Eutychius, who had maintained for a 
long time his perilous position in Ravenna, temporizing the pope, 
the Lombards, and the Franks, abandoned the seat of government, 
and fled to Naples. Italy was now forever lost to the empire, and 
the pope and the Lombard king only remained to contest its sover- 
eignty. Luitprand, by endeavoring to reduce the pope to submission 
to him, compelled Gregory III to call upon the Franks for aid, as his 
predecessor had done. The pope offered the Frankish leader the 
sovereignty of the Roman people as the reward of his intervention, 
and the latter prepared to accept it, but died before he could do 
so, A. D, 741. 

Rachisius, king of the Lombards, commenced to reign A. D. 
742, and under the pretense that the people of Rome had violated a 
treaty besieged a city which belonged to the pope ; but such was the 
influence of the pontiff over the king that at their meeting the ruler 
of the Lombards was persuaded to retire to the abbey of Monte Cas- 
sino. His queen and daughter at the same time (A. D. 749) founded 
a monastery of nuns near that abbey, whither they retired and took 
the veil. The Lombard king, Astolph, having seized Ravenna, 
A. D. 752, and invaded the Roman territories. Pope Stephen II 
appealed for aid to Pepin, the son of Charles Martel, who had been 
proclaimed king of the Franks by Pope Zachary, A. D. 751. The 
alarmed pontiff, who visited the Frankish capital in person, after 
receiving a promise from Pepin to cross the Alps the following 
year and assist him, rewarded the latter by absolving him from his 
oath of allegiance to Chilperic, the deposed king, by anointing him, 
and then investing him with the regal crown, at the same time sol- 
emnly conferring upon him the title of Patrician of the Romans. In 
the Autumn of the next year, A. D. 754, Pepin entered Italy at the 
head of a powerful army, and compelled Astolph to restore the 
Roman territory ; but the conqueror had scarcely returned home 
when the Lombard king renewed the war, ravaged the Romagna, 
laid siege to Rome, and demanded the surrender of the pope as the 
price of the city's safety. Pepin at once crossed the Alps a second 
time, and inflicted upon Astolph such a punishment that he was 
obliged to purchase peace by the surrender of all his conquests, 
including the exarchate and Pentapolis. 

Pepin, who declared that he undertook the war only for the glory 



5 8 ITAL V 577? UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

of St. Peter, bestowed upon the pope the restored territory, and thus 
raised him to the dignity of a temporal as well as spiritual ruler. 
Thus began the temporal dominion of the Roman pontiffs, which 
continued until 1871. The district thus acquired by the pope 
included Ravenna, Rimini, and twenty-three other cities, and em- 
braced the territories of the exarchate and the Pentapolis, which were 
afterwards known as the *' States of the Church." Thus by the gift 
of a foreign potentate, this large part of Italy became the kingdom 
of the Bishop of Rome. The sovereignty of this territory was 
retained by Pepin, but its immediate government, with its rich reve- 
nues, passed into the hands of the pope. Still the latter was not 
yet entirely independent, as money was coined and justice adminis- 
tered in the name of the king of the Franks, and even the election 
of the pope was subject to his revision. 

Astolphus having died, A. D. 756, Desiderius became king of 
the Lombards; but not until the death of Pepin, which occurred 
A. D. 768, did he dare molest Rome. But, in the pontificate of 
Adrian I, the restless and enterprising Lombards invaded the prov- 
inces which had been granted by Pepin to the successors of the poor 
and humble Peter. Desiderius laid waste the Romagna, and threat- 
ened the city of the popes. Several years previous he meditated the 
conquest of Ravenna, and sought the protection of Charlemagne and 
Carloman, the sons of Pepin, between whom Italy was divided. His 
two daughters became the wives of these rulers; but a difficulty arose 
between Charlemagne and Desiderius, and the former divorced his 
wife. This act displeased the Lombard king, who applied to the 
pope to favor him in his projects against the French monarch ; and 
failing in the attempt, he attacked the papal territory and endeav- 
ored to seize Adrian I. The latter appealed to Charlemagne, who 
came seasonably to his assistance with a powerful army, captured 
Pavia after a siege of several months, took Desiderius prisoner, and 
put an end to the Lombard kingdom, which he added to his own 
dominions. During the siege of Pavia Charlemagne spent "Holy 
Week" in Rome, and confirmed the gift of his father Pepin to the 
pope, and, in return, was crowned king of Italy and "Patrician of 
Rome," by Adrian I. Charlemagne entered Italy again, A. D. 781, 
to protect the pope against a league of all the adversaries of the 
papal and Prankish interests, headed by Arigiso, the Lombard duke 
of Benevento, who had married a daughter of Desiderius. The 
prompt appearance of the great conqueror in Italy ended the trouble. 
Adrian I died, A. D. 795, and Leo III became his successor. He 



THE DOCTRINES OF CLAUDIUS, 59 

was unpopular with the factions which divided Rome, and his enemies 
attacked him in the streets, A. D. 799, and almost killed him. 
Escaping from the city he went to Spoleto, and thence to Paderborn. 



Chapter IV. 

THE PROTEST OF CLAUDIUS. 

THE ninth century produced the most remarkable, perhaps, of all 
those distinguished champions of the truth in Italy, who de- 
nounced the growing superstition of the Church and labored to 
preserve pure and undefiled the faith which apostles had preached. 
The mantle of Ambrose fell upon Claudius, archbishop of Turin. He 
was an earnest and diligent student of the Bible. As he read it he 
seemed to stand in the immediate presence of the apostles, and of 
One greater than the apostles. Beholding with dismay the departure 
of the Church from the true way, he resolved to ''cry aloud and spare 
not." Pie had been chaplain of the emperor, Louis the Meek, who 
appointed him bishop of Turin, saying, ' * I have made this nomina- 
tion in order to improve the condition of the Italian Churches, which 
for the greater part have gone astray from the doctrine of the Evan- 
gelists." Claudius had talent, learning, firmness, and virtue for such 
a mission. He commenced it in earnest, and denounced the errors 
and abuses of the bishop and king of Rome with uncompromising 
zeal, both in his preaching and writings. He wrote extensive works, 
which the Inquisition has since destroyed. The titles, however, and 
many interesting passages of them may be found, as they are quoted 
in the works of his opponents, and especially in a book published 
against him by Jonas of Orleans, a contemporary writer. 

The opinions of Claudius that may be gathered from such sources 
were in direct opposition to those which were held by the Bishop of 
Rome. Claudius maintained that the Church had no other head but 
Christ, no supremacy in the Church for any bishop, no such place as 
"purgatory," no merit in pilgrimages and formal penances, no wor- 
ship of relics and images under whatever pretext, no pagan pomps 
in the worship of God, no transubstantiation in the Lord's-supper. 
He grasped ''the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God," 
and attacked the errors of his day. 

In regard to the supremacy claimed by the Bishop of Rome, Clau- 



6o ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

dius remarked that **a certain supremacy was given by our Lord to 
Peter for the conversion of the Jews as well as to Paul for the con- 
version of the Gentiles; but this was personal to them, as were all 
the gifts of the apostles. At any rate, the bishopric of Rome was 
probably founded by Paul, who went there twice, but not certainly 
by Peter, who never saw Rome." In addition to this statement 
concerning the Roman primacy, we present the following from the 
writings of Claudius: "We know very well that this passage of the 
Gospel is very ill understood — 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock 
will I build my Church ; and I will give unto thee the keys of the 
kingdom of heaven,' under pretense of which words the stupid and 
ignorant common people, destitute of all spiritual knowledge, betake 
themselves to Rome in hopes of acquiring eternal life. The ministry 
belongs to all the true superintendents and pastors of the Church, 
who discharge the same as long as they are in this world ; and when 
they have paid the debt of death others succeed in their places, who 
enjoy the same authority and power. Know thou that he only is 
apostolic who is the keeper and guardian of the apostle's doctrine, 
and not he who boasts himself to be seated in the chair of the apostle, 
and in the mean time doth not acquit himself of the charge of the 
apostle." 

The greatest difficulty with which Claudius had to contend in the 
course of his mission was the worship of relics and images. It had 
been adopted early by the Church as a compromise with paganism, 
and the people were fond of it. There is no doubt a tendency in 
our weak human nature to represent God clothed in our material 
forms and passions; and this tendency was gratified in a high degree 
by the sensuous idolatry of the ancient Romans. It was an almost 
continual exhibition of the fine arts, showy pomps, and exciting 
spectacles, besides being associated with all the national glories. 
Claudius regarded the worship of images and relics as the source of 
all abominations, and resisted it with all the logic of his pen and all 
the force of his eloquence. The Bishop of Rome was the great advo- 
cate of this innovation, which was then making rapid advancement. 
The bishop of Milan condemned the practice as idolatrous, and 
purged those churches in his diocese which had begun to admit 
representations of saints and divine persons within their walls, not 
even sparing the cross itself The seventh General Council or second 
of Nice, held A. D. jZ'], had decreed the worship of images; but 
France, Spain, Germany, and the diocese of Milan rejected it. It 
was also condemned by the Council of Frankfort, A. D. 794. 



CLA UDIUS DENO UNCES IMA GE WORSHIP, 6 1 

The advocates of images in the ninth century employed the very 
same arguments in their defense that Romanists at the present time 
offer, and Claudius refuted them on the same ground that Protestant 
writers still maintain. The former declared that they did not worship 
the image itself, but simply used it as the medium through which 
they worshiped him whom the image represents, and when they 
kissed the cross this act expressed their adoration of Him who died 
upon it. But Claudius would not accept this common excuse that 
the worship rendered to a material object is directed to an immaterial 
one. '^ First,'' said he, ''this is not true. The common class of 
men are not able to make that subtle distinction, and for this reason 
the Bible forbade absolutely even to make images of God. Secondly, 
some images and relics are the objects of pilgrimages and greater 
veneration than others; and this proves that an intrinsic virtue is 
supposed to reside in those material objects. TJiirdly, there is no 
reason why we should worship the souls of those whom we believe 
to be saved. To God alone is due honor, praise, and worship. Should 
the saints be worshiped at all it would be preferable to do so when 
they are still alive and in the image of God." 

Claudius, in his letter to Theodemir, says: ''Appointed bishop by 
Louis, I came to Turin. I found all the churches full of the filth of 
abominations and images. ... If Christians venerate the images 
of saints they have not abandoned idols, but only changed their 
names." While employing the most invincible arguments, the bishop 
of Milan also occasionally indulged in sarcasm. "God commands 
one thing," says he, "and these people do quite the contrary. God 
commands us to bear our cross and not worship it; but these are all 
for worshiping it, whereas they do not bear it at all. To serve God 
after this manner is to go away from him. For if we ought to adore 
the cross because Christ was fastened to it, how many other things 
are there which touched Jesus Christ! Why don't they adore man- 
gers and old clothes, because he was laid in a manger and wrapped 
in swaddling clothes? Let them adore asses, because he entered into 
Jerusalem upon the foal of an ass!" 

Where the voice of this earnest preacher could not reach he 
labored to convey truth by his pen. He published expositions of 
almost all the epistles of Paul, and several books of the Old Testa- 
ment, besides writing commentaries on the Gospels. According to 
Allix, none of these works have been printed except his commentary 
upon the Epistle to the Galatians. The monks of St. Germain have 
his commentary upon all the epistles in manuscript, in two volumes, 



62 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

which were found in the Hbrary of the abbey of Fleury, near Orleans. 
They have also his manuscript commentaries on Leviticus, which 
formerly belonged to the library of St. Remy at Rheims. There are 
several manuscript copies of his commentary on Matthew in England 
and elsewhere. 

In A. D. 815 he expressed, in his commentary on Matthew, his 
views of the Eucharist, declaring that it was a memorial of Christ's 
death, and not a repetition of it, and that the elements of bread and 
wine were only symbols of the flesh and blood of Jesus. It appears, 
therefore, that the doctrine of transubstantiation was not held in the 
ninth century by the Italian Church at the foot of the Alps. The 
bishops of neighboring dioceses indorsed the opinion of the bishop 
of Milan, and urged him to continue his expositions of the Bible. 
Though differing from him on other subjects, they concurred in his 
views of the sacrament. Among these prominent ecclesiastics who 
favored the teachings of Claudius were Jonas, bishop of Orleans, and 
the Abbot Theodemirus. 

The doctrines which Claudius so powerfully advocated by both 
voice and pen were essentially the same that Luther proclaimed in 
the sixteenth century. He insisted that there is but one Sovereign 
in the Church, and he is not on earth ; that Peter had no superiority 
over the other apostles, but was honored in being the first who 
preached the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles; that human merit 
does not avail, and that man is saved by faith alone. This earnest 
reformer of the ninth century rejected such dogmas as the authority 
of tradition, prayers for the dead, and the infallibility of the Church. 
With regret he beheld the downward tendency of the Church in Italy, 
the worldliness of its ministry, the ignorance of its people, the prom- 
inence of image worship in its service, and the magnificence of its 
ceremonies. Yet while there was a general declension of piety 
throughout Italy, the Church in the northern part, to a great extent, 
maintained its purity. The Bishop of Rome had not succeeded in 
compelling universal submission to his jurisdiction, and had not per- 
suaded all the Churches to accept his new opinions and to adopt his 
peculiar customs. 

The dominant power at Rome would have silenced Claudius, but 
he was not alone. Bishops and synods extended to him sympathy 
and support. Agobardus, the bishop of Lyons, was as strong an 
iconoclast as the reformer at Turin, and stood by him in defense of 
the true faith. Dupon says that the emperor, Louis the Pious (le 
Debonnaire), summoned a council, A. D. 824, of **the most learned 



THE FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF CLAUDIUS. 63 

and judicious bishops of his realm" to discuss the question of images. 
At that time emperors could convene synods and appoint bishops. 
Hence no papal allocution determined the action of this council. "It 
knew no other way to settle the question than by determining what 
they should find upon the most impartial examination to be true, 
by plain text of Holy Scripture, and the judgment of the Fathers." 
This ecclesiastical body, which met at Paris, like the great council at 
Frankfort, A. D. 794, indorsed the principles for which Claudius 
had contended. During the twenty years of controversy he was 
publicly opposed by only two men, Dungulas, a recluse of the abbey 
of St. Denis, an Italian, it is believed, and naturally inclined to the 
opinions of the pope; and Jonas, bishop of Orleans, who differed from 
Claudius on the one question of tolerating the use of images, the 
bishop of Orleans defending them, but not for idolatrous, pur- 
poses, while the bishop of Turin condemned any use of them in 
churches. 

The doctrines of Claudius found many followers, both in Italy 
and in France. The abbot of St. Theodomir, in France, who had 
been a school-mate and friend, wrote to him, saying that his doc- 
trines had already been extensively embraced, and beseeching him to 
give up his preachings and writings, because they were not approved 
by the apostolic lord, the Bishop of Rome. Claudius replied that 
his doctrines were those of the Gospel, and incidentally remarked 
that the title ** apostolic does not belong to him who administers a 
bishopric founded by an apostle, but to him who truly fulfills the 
apostolic mission." This important letter was followed by the publi- 
cation of a book on the same subject. An extract of this book was 
made by Dungal, an Irish priest, who, selecting here and there some 
propositions, changed their meaning, and charged them as being 
heretical. A self-constituted council assumed to examine those prop- 
ositions ; but Claudius declined their judgment, and regarded with 
indifference the attack of Dungal. 

At this the enemies of Claudius openly and directly accused him 
of heresy to the emperor, Louis the Meek, by whom he had been 
appointed bishop of Turin. That monarch did not heed the accusa- 
tion or order a trial, but simply gave a commission to Jonas, bishop 
of Orleans, to make an inquiry into the doctrines of Claudius. Six 
years elapsed, and Jonas was silent. In the mean while Claudius 
freely continued his mission, completed his extensive commentaries 
on the New Testament, and died in full communion with all the 
Churches of Italy and France. It was only after his death that 



64 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Jonas of Orleans published and presented to the emperor a book in 
which he admits that the bishop of Turin was right in opposing the 
worship of images, but rebukes him on account of his intemperate 
zeal on that subject, for his disregard of the Bishop of Rome, and 
for his aversion to pilgrimages, invocation of the saints, and worship 
of the cross. Jonas in the same book hints also that heretical books 
were said to have been found in the library of Claudius after his 
death, and that a riuiior had been spread of his having received the 
heresy of Arius. The words of the bishop of Orleans would rather 
imply a malignant insinuation than an open accusation of heresy. 
And yet, with no other foundation, a modern French writer, Bossuet, 
has positively asserted that Claudius was an Arian or a Nestorian. 
The inconsistency of this late charge is shown from the fact that he 
communed and almost identified himself with the Waldensian Church, 
against which no such accusation was ever made. 

The civil and religious history of Italy during the ninth century 
are so intimately connected that they may be narrated together as 
one inseparable cluster of events. Leo III, who had been driven 
from Rome, A. D. 799, naturally appealed to Charlemagne for the 
punishment of his enemies and his restoration to the papal throne. 
His enemies endeavored to defend their course by charging the 
pontiff with grave crimes. The Prankish monarch did not decline 
to undertake the judicial investigation of the case, but postponed it 
until his arrival in Rome, in the mean time continuing to treat the 
pope with undiminished respect and familiarity. Toward the close 
of the Autumn, A. D. 800, Charlemagne proceeded to Rome, and 
the trial of Leo III occurred. It resulted, as a matter of course, in 
his acquittal and the punishment of his accusers, the king with his 
own voice proclaiming the innocence of the pontiff. The latter, 
desiring to manifest his gratitude, resolved to reward his benefactor ; 
and accordingly, while he was kneeling on the steps of the great 
altar in St. Peter's Cathedral at the service of the mass, Leo III 
came suddenly behind him and placed upon his head the golden 
crown of the Caesars, at the same time hailing him with the ancient 
imperial titles: ''Long life and victory to Charles Augustus, crowned 
of God, great and peace-giving Emperor of the Romans!" It was 
Christmas, A. D. 800, which was then the, day of the New Year, 
and a vast throng of clergy, warriors, and citizens filled the church. 
This multitude echoed the words of the pontiff with an enthusiastic 
shout, joyfully acknowledging the king of the Pranks as the lawful 
successor of the Caesars. Thus an august title which had remained 



CHARLEMAGNE AND LOUIS. 65 

dormant for several centuries was revived, but it did not restore 
Rome to its ancient splendor. 

Charlemagne, the "Emperor of the West," was now the most 
powerful monarch in the world ; but his fame does not rest so much 
upon his great exploits as a conqueror as upon his learning and 
statesmanship. He labored to promote the civilization and Chris- 
tianization of Europe, and during his life Italy enjoyed a period of 
rest and prosperity. On his death, A. D. 814, his only lawful sur- 
viving child, Louis, known as "Le Debonnaire," or the meek, mild, 
or gentle one, became emperor, having been crowned the previous 
year. Feeling his own incompetency, and hoping to preserve peace 
among his turbulent sons, the new monarch gave to each of them a 
share in his dominions, A. D. 817, Italy being included in that por- 
tion assigned to Lothaire. The death of Louis occurred A. D. 840, 
and Lothaire took the imperial title, which he held for fifteen years. 
His son, Louis II, who had been ruler over Lombardy, succeeded 
Lothaire, A. D. 855, and was a brave and virtuous sovereign. He 
advanced into Southern Italy, and saved Rome from the further 
attacks of the Saracens. These invaders, after striving to get posses- 
sion of Sicily, landed upon the Italian coast, and, encouraged by the 
dissensions of the cities in the lower end of the peninsula, extended 
their ravages to the vicinity of Rome, even besieging the city itself. 
Had they been united they might have conquered all Italy. The 
distress of the Romans was increased by the death of their pontiff, 
Sergius II ; but in his successor, Leo IV, they found a chief fitted 
for the employment both of the cabinet and the field. By his cour- 
ageous conduct Rome was saved. He successfully resisted the Sara- 
cens in their attacks upon the city, and brought about a league of 
the cities of Gaeta, Naples, and Amalifei. Their combined fleets 
inflicted a severe defeat upon that of the Saracens off Ostia, and a 
tempest destroyed the remnant of it. Leo could not prevent the 
Saracens from plundering the churches and shrines which lay without 
the walls. Upon the withdrawal of the enemy he inclosed this por- 
tion — the Vatican quarter — with a strong wall, and called it, in honor 
of himself, the Leonine City, A. D. 852. 

The Saracens, having captured Bari, had control of the Adriatic 
and the southern part of Italy ; but Louis II, aided by the Greek 
fleet of Basil I, defeated them, A. D. 871. The death of Louis II 
occurred A. D. 875, and Charles the Bald of France was crowned 
emperor by his nephew. Pope John VIII. The latter is believed by 
some authorities to have been a female in disguise, a native of Ger- 



66 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

many, educated at Athens, and celebrated for eloquence, learning, 
and popular manners. It is said that she was elected pope, A. D. 854, 
and reigned nearly two years and a half, but, not observing the laws 
of chastity, she died in child-birth from improper exposure in a 
public procession between the theater called Coliseum and the church 
of St. Clement. Mosheim refers to this extraordinary or imaginary 
person, still known under the popular name of Pope Joan, and says 
that it is " more than probable that some unusual event must have 
happened at Rorne, from which this story derived its origin." Some 
writers maintain that she is a fictitious character, whose degradation 
represented the profligracy of the popes at that time. Among the 
prominent pontiffs who reigned in the latter part of the century were 
Adrian II (who, upon the death of Benedict III, A. D. 857, ascended 
the papal throne), John VIII, and Eugenius III. In this century the 
power and influence of the popes in civil affairs arose to an enormous 
height through the favor and protection of the Italian princes. Car- 
loman, who became emperor, A. D. 877, and Charles the Fat, who 
succeeded him, A. D. 885, in the kingdom of Italy and in the Roman 
Empire, were elected by the Roman pontiff and the Italian princes. 
To support their pretensions to supremacy and independence the 
bishops of Rome forged ancient records, and presented them as au- 
thentic documents. Among these assumed decretals of the early 
Church were those of some obscure writer, to which was attached 
Isidore's name. 



Chapter V. 

RISE OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS. 

DURING the tenth and eleventh centuries Italy was in a state 
of constant strife. Hostile factions contended for the suprem- 
acy, and surrounding nations, taking advantage of these internal 
dissensions, invaded the peninsula. In the early part of the tenth 
century it experienced many disasters. The Magyars and Northmen 
swept over the Alps and ravaged the northern portion with fire and 
sword, and Southern Italy was devastated by the Saracens. The 
death of Charles the Fat, A. D. 887, ended the Carolingian line in 
Italy, and was followed by the disruption of Charlemagne's magnifi- 
cent empire. A struggle at once ensued between the adherents of 



DISORDERS IN ITAL Y. 6/ 

Beranger, duke of Friuli, and Guido, duke of Spoletum, for the 
possession of the Itahan crown. The latter prince was victorious, 
and became emperor; and Beranger appealed to the German king, 
Arnulf, to assist him against his enemy. He responded willingly to 
the summons, and invaded Italy, A. D. 894. Having taken Rome, 
he set aside both Beranger and Lambert, son of Guido, who had 
died during the conflict, and was himself crowned emperor by Pope 
Formosus. He had no real power in Italy, and soon returned to 
Germany, where he died, A. D. 899. Death removed Lambert 
about the same time, and Beranger occupied the Italian throne at 
the beginning of the tenth century. 

Leo V succeeded Benedict IV in the pontificate, A. D. 903 ; but 
he reigned only forty days, having been dethroned and imprisoned 
by Christopher, one of his domestics. But the usurper was over- 
thrown the following year by Sergius III, a Roman presbyter. This 
pontiff owed his elevation to the protection of Adalbert, a pow^erful 
Tuscan prince, whose influence at Rome was unlimited ; and his 
short reign was followed by those of Anastasius III and Lando, all 
too transient to be very fruitful in events. An archbishop of Ra- 
venna, under the title of John X, ascended the papal throne, A. D. 
914, and, like the most of his predecessors, w^as licentious and corrupt. 
His glorious campaign against the Saracens, whom he expelled from 
their settlements upon the banks of the Garigliano, A. D. 916, w^as 
a redeeming feature of his reign. He did not, however, long enjoy 
his elevation, as he was disliked by an infamous Avoman named. 
Marozia, the daughter of Theodora, and wife of Albert, marquis or 
count of Tuscany. She was the mistress of one pope, the mother 
of a second, and the grandmother of a third; and the record of her 
career forms the darkest page in the history of the papacy. Upon; 
the death of her husband and Beranger I she endeavored to strengthen, 
herself by marrying Hugh of Provence, who had assumed the Italian, 
crown, and had been acknowledged king by Pope John XI, the suc- 
cessor of Leo VI and Stephen VII, whose respective reigns were: 
unimportant. John XI was the illegitimate son of Marozia by Sergius < 
III, and yet accepted, A. D. 931, the sacred position once occupied 1 
by St. Peter ! His mother introduced Hugh of Provence into the 
castle of St. Angelo ; but the Romans, led by Alberic, the legiti- 
mate son of Marozia, refused to allow Hugh to enter their city, and 
confined him to the castle, from which Alberic soon drove him. 
Marozia and John XI were thrown into prison, A. D. 933, and the 
latter died, A. D. 936, The pontiffs who in their turns succeeded 

6 



6S ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

and filled the papal chair, until A. D. 956, were Leo VII, Stephen 
VIII, Marianus II, and Agapet, whose characters were greatly supe- 
rior to those of their immediate predecessors, and whose govern- 
ment, at least, was not attended with those tumults and revolutions 
which had so frequently shaken the pontifical throne and banished 
peace from Rome. 

For twenty years Alberic ruled Rome, restoring to a limited 
degree the old republican institutions. He joined to his dignity as 
Roman consul a degree of authority and opulence which nothing 
could resist, and, consequently, upon the death of Agapet, he raised 
his son Octavion to the pontificate. This inexperienced }'outh took 
the name of John XII, when he began to reign, A. D. 956, and thus 
introduced the custom, which has since been adopted by all the popes, 
of assuming a new appellation upon occupying the chair of St. Peter. 
Hugh of Provence, though driven from Rome, retained his hold upon, 
the rest of Italy ; but he was an infamous tyrant, and became so un- 
popular with the people that they devised a plot to supplant him by 
electing Beranger, marquis of Ivrea, the most powerful noble of Nor- 
thern Italy. Hugh detected^ the conspiracy and Beranger fled ; but 
the former was finally compelled to return to Provence, and his son 
Lothairc became king of Italy, A. D. 945. This sovereign died, A. 
D. 950, and his father's rival at once mounted the throne, as Beran- 
ger II. He endeavored to compel Adelaide, the young and beautiful 
widow of Lothaire, to marry his son Adelbert; but she refused, and 
was thrown into prison. After suffering the most cruel treatment, 
she succeeded in escaping, and appealed to the German king, Otho 
the Great, for protection. He crossed the Alps, defeated Beranger, 
and married Adelaide himself, at the same time assuming the title 
of King of the Lombards. Allowing Beranger to retain his crown, 
and Lombardy as his vassal, Otho returned home in triumph, A. D. 
951. After ten years of violence and discontent, during which the 
Lombard nobles succeeded in winning the uncompromising hostility 
of the pope, John XII, the latter invited Otho to become emperor of 
the Romans, and accordingly he was crowned, with Queen Adelaide, 
at Rome, in February, A. D. 962. 

Otho had scarcely passed the Alps, on his return to Germany, 
when the pontiff commenced to plot against him, and finallx' plunged 
Rome into a revolt against its German master. The emperor returned 
to Italy, A. D. 964, and solemnly deposed the pope from his high 
office. The Romans were deprived of their independent institutions, 
and placed under the rule of Leo VIII, who was appointed by Otho. 



OTHO III AND SYLVESTER IT. 6g 

Thus the power of the German emperor was firmly estabhshed in 
Rome. He endeavored to add Southern Italy to his empire, but Avas 
unsuccessful. The Romans attempted to regain their independent 
municipal government during the latter part of the reign of Otho II, 
and set up a consul named Crescentius, who compelled Benedict VI, 
who succeeded John XIII (A. D. 972), to acknowledge his authority. 
The unfortunate pontiff, upon the death of Otho the Great, A. D. 
973, was murdered the following }'ear. Boniface VII and Donus II 
each reigned a few months, and when the papal chair became vacant, 
A. D. 975, Benedict VII was chosen to occupy it. He remained in 
the pontificate nine years, and was succeeded b}' John XIV. The 
latter, however, was deposed by Boniface VII, who had returned 
from his exile, A. D. 965, but whose reign extended over a period 
of only six months. His successor was John XV, a wise and pru- 
dent ruler, whose administration was tranquil and continued until A. 
D. 996. In that year Otho III placed Gregory V, a German, upon 
the papal throne, then marched to Rome at the head of a powerful 
army, put an end to the consular goveVnment, and was crowned em- 
peror by the pope. As soon as he had departed from the city some 
hostile factions raised a revolt, and elected a Greek to the pontificate. 
Otho III promptly returned to Rome, deposed the rival pope, cruelly 
tortured him, and laid siege to the castle of St. Angelo. Self-govern- 
ment was now at an end in Rome, and the power of the emperor 
was supreme. He even dreamed of reviving the ancient glories of 
the Roman Empire, and of reigning as master of the world, with 
Rome as his capital ; but his early death defeated all these plans. 
One of his last acts was the appointment of Gerbert, his tutor, to the 
pontificate, to succeed Gregory V. The new pope, Sylvester II, was 
esteemed the most profound scholar and most daring thinker of his 
day, using his power to promote literature and science. Mosheim 
extols his genius and declares that by his writings ''many were in- 
cited to the study of physics, mathematics, and philosophy, and in 
general to the pursuit of science in all its branches." 

The disorders which had marked the tenth century in Itah' contin- 
ued throughout the eleventh. After the death of the emperor, Otho 
III, A. D. 1002, Rome passed again under popular government, and 
the great cities of Northern Italy enjoyed, under various forms, much 
of the liberty which prevailed in them at earlier periods. The great 
trouble against which they had to contend was the repeated effort of 
some powerful noble to make himself master of some important city. 
Even the bishops, not content with their spiritual privileges, endeavored 



70 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

to obtain temporal power; and the people of Milan, especially, had 
a severe struggle with their archbishop, who Avas resolved to deprive 
them of their liberties. The municipal governments of Italy were 
generally conducted by two or more consuls chosen by the people. 
Each city had usually two councils, the smaller being called the Con- 
siglio di Credenza, and the larger, the Senate ; but the supreme power was 
in the hands of the citizens. The great Italian republics were more 
thoroughly organized than their minor sisters. In the eleventh cen- 
tury Venice was one of the richest and most powerful of the Italian 
states, and was just entering upon its remarkable commercial career. 
It was the only republic in Italy which never submitted to the Ger- 
man emperors, and no foreign power had as yet been acknowledged 
within its walls. Its chief magistrate was styled the Doge, or Duke, 
and possessed all the powers of a king. For six centuries Venice 
had not been involved in the great struggles which convulsed the 
other portions of the peninsula, and consequently enjoyed a steady 
growth. During the Crusades the republic engaged in ship-building, 
expelled the pirates from the Adriatic Sea, carried on an extensive 
commerce with eastern countries, and became the mistress of the seas. 
The example of Venice was followed by Pisa, and that republic next 
rose to wealth and importance, and became the principal commercial 
rival of the other. Genoa did not advance so rapidly, but her terri- 
tory ultimately embraced the cities of the two Rivieras, and extended 
around the head of the Gulf of Genoa from Nice to Spezzia. She 
was always the enemy of Venice, and the rival of Pisa, though some- 
times the ally of the latter republic. 

During the eleventh century the Italian crown was worn by Henry 
of Bavaria, Conrad II, Henry III, and Henry IV, the Great. All 
these German emperors had more or less contention with the Roman 
pontiffs. Gregory VII compelled Henry IV to remain three days 
and nights barefooted in the snow, and without food, at the gate of 
the castle of Canossa, in February, A. D. 1077. The chief ally of 
the pope in Italy was the Countess Matilda, of Tuscany, who pos- 
sessed great fiefs. She laid the foundation of the temporal power of 
the popes by bequeathing (A. D. 1080) a large portion of her do- 
minions to Gregory VII. The Normans, under Robert Guiscard, 
invaded Sicily, expelled the Saracens, and captured (A. D. 1053) 
Pope Leo IX, who had advanced against them with an army. After- 
wards the Normans defended the Roman pontiffs, and Roger, the son 
of Robert Guiscard, became king of Sicily, and promised to make 
his dominion a fief of the *' Holy See." 




HILDEBRAND (POPE GREGORy VIIj. 



72 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 



Chapter VI. 

THE STRUGGLES OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS. 

THREE important events mark the civil history of Italy during 
the twelfth century — the struggle between the empire and the 
papacy for ecclesiastical investitures; the establishment of the Nor- 
man kingdom in Naples, and the formation of distinct and nearly 
independent republics among the cities of Lombardy. Pascal II, 
who had been raised to the pontificate in the closing year of the pre- 
ceding century (A. D. 1099), appeared firmly seated in the apostolic 
chair without the least apprehension from the imperial faction. After 
the death of Guibert, A. D. iioo, this faction, indeed, chose in his 
place a person named Albert ; but he was seized and imprisoned on 
the day of his election. Theodoric and Magnulf were successively 
chosen after Albert, who could not long support their claim to the 
pontificate. No sooner did Pascal observe his deliverance from his 
domestic enemies than he determined not to suffer the present season 
of tranquillity to pass unimproved. He assembled a council at Rome, 
A. D. 1 102, in which the decrees of his predecessors against inves- 
titures and the excommunications they had fulminated against Henry 
IV were renewed, and the ambitious pontiff employed the most 
vigorous efforts to excite new enemies against the unfortunate em- 
peror. The latter, however, resisted with great constancy and reso- 
lution the aggressions of this violent pope, and eluded his perfidious 
stratagems with much vigilance and dexterity. But the heart of the 
emperor was wounded in the tenderest part, and lost all its firmness 
and courage, when his unnatural son, who was afterwards named 
Henry V, under the impious pretext of religion, took up arms, A. D. 
1 104, against his person and his cause. He seized his father in a 
treacherous manner, and compelled him to abdicate the empire ; after 
which the unhappy prince retired to Liege, where, deserted by all his 
adherents, he was released from his miseries by death, A. D. 1106. 
This odious rebellion produced a revolution in the empire; but 
Pascal II did not derive from it all the benefits which he anticipated. 
While Henry V was willing to grant the right of election to the 
canons and monks, as was usual prior to his reign, he could by no 
means be persuaded to renounce his right oi investing \\\^ bishops and 



IVAJ^ OF INVESTITURES. 73 

abbots. This refusal exasperated the pontiff, who renewed, in the 
Councils of Guastallo and Troyes, the decrees which had so frequently 
been issued against investituirs, and the flame burst forth with new 
fury. It was, indeed, suspended during a few years by the wars in 
which Henry V was engaged, and which prevented him from terminat- 
ing the dispute. But as soon as he had made peace with his enemies 
and composed the tumults which disturbed the tranquillity of the em- 
pire, he departed for Italy, A. D. mo, with a formidable army, to 
put an end to the long and unhappy contest. He advanced toward 
Rome by slow marches, while the trembling pope, reduced to the 
lowest and most defenseless condition, proposed to him the following 
conditions of peace : That he on the one hand should renounce the 
right of investing with ^the ring and the crosier ; and that the bishops 
and abbots should, on the other, resign to the emperor all the grants 
they had received from Charlemagne, of those rights and privileges 
which belong to royalty, such as the power of raising tribute, coining 
money, and possessing independent lands and territories, with other 
immunities of a similar nature. Henry accepted these conditions, 
and accordingly ratified them by a formal consent, A. D. nil; but 
the Italian and German bishops were extremely displeased, and 
strongly expressed their dissent. 

The contending parties were assembled in the church of St. Peter, 
and, a fatal tumult having arisen between their respective followers, 
Henry ordered the pope and several of the refractory cardinals to be 
seized and to be confined in the castle of Viterbo. After remaining 
a prisoner for some time the captive pontiff was engaged, by the 
unhappy circumstances of his present condition, to enter into a new 
convention, by which he solemnly receded from the article of the 
former treaty which regarded investitures, confirmed to the emperor 
the privilege of inaugurating the bishops and abbots with the ring 
and crosier, and anathematized all who might oppose this concession. 
Thus was peace concluded, and Henry received the imperial diadem 
from Pascal II. This peace was transitory — the fruit of violence and 
necessity — and was followed by greater tumults and more dreadful 
wars than had yet afflicted the Church. Immediately after this treaty 
had been concluded Rome was convulsed with the most vehement 
commotions, and a universal clamor was excited against the pontiff, 
who was accused of having violated, in a scandalous manner, the du- 
ties and dignity of his station, and of having prostituted the majesty 
of the Church by his ignominious compliance with the demands of 
the emperor. Pascal desired to appease these commotions, and, in 



74 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

defiance of his anathema, assembled in the church of Lateran a coun- 
cil, A. D. 1 1 12. There he not only confessed, with the deepest con- 
trition, the crime he had committed in concluding such a convention 
with the emperor, but submitted the decision of the affair to the de- 
termination of the council, who accordingly took the treaty into con- 
sideration, and solemnly annulled it. This step led to many events 
which, for a long time, resulted unfavorably to the interests of Henry. 
Many synods and councils both in France and Germany excommu- 
nicated him, and he was even placed in the black list of heretics, a 
denomination which exposed those who were embraced in it to the 
greatest dangers in these barbarous and superstitious times ; and to 
make his anxiety more intense, he saw the German princes revolting 
from his authority in several places, and taking up arms in the cause 
of the Church. 

Henry, desiring to terminate the calamities which thus afflicted 
the empire on all sides, started for Italy a second time with a large 
army, A. D. 1116, and arrived the year following at Rome, where 
he assembled the consuls, senators, and nobles, while the fugitive 
pontiff retired to Benevento. During his forced absence, however, 
Pascal engaged the Normans to march to his assistance, and, encour- 
aged by the prospect of immediate succor, prepared for a vigorous 
war against the emperor, and attempted to make himself master 
of Rome. But in the midst of these warlike preparations, which 
attracted the attention of Europe, the military pontiff died, A. D. 
1 1 18. John Cajetan was chosen as his successor, but ended his tur- 
bulent reign in the beginning of the following year. Calistus H was 
the next incumbent of the papal chair, A. D. 11 19. He renewed 
the dispute concerning investitures ; but it was evident that both par- 
ties had become wearied by constant agitation, and desired the 
blessings of peace. Conditions were therefore proposed, which dero- 
gated neither from the majesty of the empire nor the rights of the 
Church, and temporary tranquillity was once more restored. In the 
pontificates of his successors, until the elevation of Alexander III, 
A. D. 1 159, few remarkable events occurred, except the struggles 
of contending popes, and their disputes with Roger, king of Sicily, 
who haughtily refused to acknowledge his dominions as dependencies 
upon the ''Holy See." 

By the compact between Henry V and Calistus II the emperor 
resigned forevei all pretense to invest bishops by the ring and crosier, 
and recognized the liberty of elections. But, in return, it was stipu- 
lated that elections should be made in his presence or that of his 



IVAJ^ OF INVESTITURES ENDED. 75 

officers, and that the new bishop should receive his temporalities 
from the emperor by the scepter. As both parties in the concordat 
at Worms receded from so much of their pretensions, it is difficult to 
determine which was victorious. On one hand, the emperors, by 
restoring the freedom of episcopal elections, deprived themselves of a 
prerogative which they had long possessed, and which was almost 
essential to the maintenance of authority over not the least turbulent 
part of their subjects. While the form of investiture by the ring 
and crosier seemed in itself of no importance, yet it had been, in 
effect, a collateral security against the election of obnoxious persons. 
For the emperors, by delaying this necessary part of the pontificals 
until they should confer investiture, prevented a hasty consecration 
of the new bishop, after which, the vacancy being legally filled, it 
would not be decent for them to withhold the temporalities. But 
then, on the other hand, they preserved by the concordat their feudal 
sovereignty over the estates of the Church in defiance of the language 
which had recently been held by its rulers. Gregory VII had posi- 
tively declared in the Lateran Council, A. D. 1080, that a bishop or 
abbot receiving investiture from a layman should not be reckoned 
as a prelate. A bishop of Placentia asserts that prelates dishonored 
their order by putting their hands, which hold the body and blood 
of Christ, between those of impure laymen. The same expressions 
are used by others, and are directed against the form of feudal hom- 
age, which, according to the principles of that age, ought to have 
been as obnoxious as investiture. 

The same doctrine had been maintained by all the successors 
of Gregory, without any limitation of their censures to the formality 
of the ring and crosier. But Calistus II himself had gone much 
farther, and absolutely prohibited the compelling ecclesiastics to 
render any service to laymen on account of their benefices. "It is 
evident," says Hallam, "that such a general immunity from feudal 
obligations, for an order who possessed nearly half the lands in 
Europe, struck at the root of those institutions by which the fabric 
of society was principally held together." The disciples of Gregory 
had aimed at this complete independence ; and by yielding to the 
continuance of lay investitures in any shape, Calistus may, in this 
respect, appear to have relinquished the principal object of conten- 
tion. In some battles immediate success may seem pretty equally 
balanced, but subsequent effects indicate to whom the intrinsic advan- 
tages of victory belong. So it is evident, from the events which 
followed the settlement of this great controversy about investitures. 



j6 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT, 

that the * * Holy See " had conquered. The emperors were not the only 
sovereigns whose practice of investiture excited the hostility of Rome, 
though they sustained the principal brunt of the war. A similar 
contest broke out under the pontificate of Pascal II with Henry I 
of England. 

The Normans in the southern part of Italy continued loyal to 
the papal hierarchy. As has been previously stated Leo IX, A. D. 
1053, invested them with their conquests in Apulia, as fiefs of the 
*' Holy See." This investiture was repeated and enlarged as the popes, 
especially in their contentions with Henry IV and Henry V, found 
the advantage of using the Normans as faithful auxiliaries. Finally 
Innocent II, A. D. 1138, conferred upon Roger the title of King of 
Sicily. It is difficult to understand by what pretense these countries 
could be claimed by the Roman See in sovereignty, unless by virtue 
of the pretended donation of Constantine, or that of Louis the 
Debonair, which is hardly less suspicious. Muratori presumes to 
suppose that the interpolated, if not spurious, grants of Louis the 
Debonair, Otho I, and Henry II to the Roman See were promulgated 
about the time of the first concessions to the Normans, in order to 
give the popes a colorable pretext to dispose of the southern prov- 
inces of Italy. It appears strange that Innocent II should surrender 
the liberties of the city of Naples, whether that was considered as 
an independent republic or as a portion of the Greek Empire. But the 
Normans, who had no titles but their swords, were naturally glad to 
give an appearance of legitimacy to their conquest ; and the kingdom 
of Naples, even in the hands of the most powerful princes in Europe, 
never ceased to pay a feudal acknowledgment to the chair of St. Peter. 

The cities of Lombardy, in the northern part of Italy, manifested 
the same independent spirit during the twelfth century that they did 
in the eleventh. There was, in fact, no power remaining in the 
empire to control them. The two Henrys, IV and V, were so much 
embarrassed during the quarrel concerning investitures and the con- 
tinual troubles of Germany that they were less likely to interfere 
with the rising freedom of the Italian cities than to purchase their 
assistance by large concessions. Henry IV granted a charter to 
Pisa, A. D. 1 08 1, full of the most important privileges, promising 
even not to name any marquis of Tuscany without the people's con- 
sent; and it is possible that, though the instruments have perished, 
other places might obtain similar advantages. However this may 
be, it is certain that, before the death of Henry V, A. D. 1125, 
almost all the cities of Lombardy, and many among those of Tus- 



FEUDAL LORDSHIPS. jj 

cany were accustomed to elect their own magistrates, and to act as 
independent communities in waging war and in domestic government. 
As already stated, the territory originally under the control of the 
count or bishop of these cities had been reduced by numerous con- 
cessions to the rural nobility. But the new republics, believing that 
they were entitled to all which their former governors had once pos- 
sessed, commenced to attack their nearest neighbors, and to recover 
the sovereignty of all their ancient territory. They besieged the 
castles of the rural counts, and successively conquered them. They 
suppressed some minor communities, which had been formed' in 
imitation of themselves by little towns belonging to their district. 
Sometimes they purchased feudal superiorities or territorial juris- 
dictions ; and, according to a policy not unusual with the stronger 
party, converted the rights of property into those of government. 
This produced a vast intricacy of titles, which, of course, was of great 
advantage to those who desired a pretext for robbing their neighbors. 
Hence, at the middle of the twelfth century, hardly any noble- 
man could be found except the marquis of Montferrat who had not 
submitted to some city. Among the independent families were 
those of Este, Malaspina, and Savoy. Muratori produces many 
charters of mutual compact between the nobles and the neighboring 
cities, w^hereof one invariable article is, that the former should reside 
within the walls a certain number of months in the year. The rural 
nobility were thus deprived of the independence which had endeared 
their castles ; but they imbibed a new ambition of directing the 
municipal government of the cities, which, during the first period 
of the republics, was chiefly in the hands of the superior families. 
The Lombards adopted the sagacious policy of inviting settlers by 
extending to them the privileges of citizenship, and sometimes even 
bestowing them by compulsion. Sometimes a city, imitating the 
wisdom of ancient Rome, granted these privileges to all the inhab- 
itants of another. Thus the principal cities, and especially Milan, 
reached, before the middle of the twelfth century, a degree of 
population very far beyond that of the capitals of the great king- 
doms. Within their strong walls and deep trenches, and in the 
midst of their well-peopled streets, the industrious dwelt secure from 
the license of armed pillagers and the oppression of feudal tyrants. 
Artisans, whom the military land-holders despised, acquired and 
deserved the right of bearing arms for their own and the public 
defense. Their occupations became liberal, because they were the 
foundation of their political franchises ; the citizens were classed in 



^S ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

companies according to their respective crafts ; each of which had its 
tribune or standard-bearer (gonfalonier), at whose command, when 
any tumult arose or enemy threatened, they rushed in arms to muster 
in the market-place. 

While the growth of these little republics and the corresponding 
advancement of liberty excite our admiration, their national conduct 
awakens an opposite feeling. Besides their love of freedom they 
possessed a restless spirit, which led them to tyrannize over weaker 
#ieighbors. They played over again the tragedy of ancient Greece, 
with all its circumstances of inveterate hatred, unjust ambition, and 
atrocious retaliation, though with less consummate actors upon the 
scene. Among all the Lombard cities Milan was the most conspicu- 
ous, as well for power and population as for the abuse of those 
resources by ambitious and arbitrary conduct. An intensely bitter 
feeling of long continuance had existed between the inhabitants of 
Milan and Lodi. This animosity originated, according to Arnulf, in 
the resistance made by the citizens of the latter place to an attempt 
made by Archbishop Eribert to force a bishop of his own nomination 
upon them. The bloodshed, plunder, and conflagrations which had 
ensued would, he says, fill a volume if they were related. And this 
is the testimony of a writer who did not live later than A. D. 1085. 
Seventy years more either of servitude or hostility elapsed before 
Lodi enjoyed peace. It was razed to the ground by the Milanese, 
A. D. mi, and its inhabitants distributed among six villages, where 
they were subjected to an unrelenting despotism. Milan commenced 
a war of ten years' duration with the little city of Conio, A. D. 11 18; 
but its inhabitants exhibited such remarkable perseverance that they 
obtained better terms of capitulation, though they lost their original 
independence. The Cremonese treated the town of Crema so harshly 
that it revolted from them and put itself under the protection of 
Milan. Cities of more equal forces carried on interminable hostilities 
by wasting each other's territory, destroying the harvests, and burn- 
ing the villages. 

At this period the sovereignty of the emperors, though not very 
effective, was in theory always admitted. Their name was used in 
public acts and appeared upon the coin. When they came into Italy 
they had certain customary supplies of provisions called fodniin 
regale, at the expense of the city where they resided; during their 
presence all inferior magistrates were suspended, and the right of 
jurisdiction devolved upon them alone. But the jealousy of the 
Lombards was so great that they built the royal palaces without their 



FREDERICK BARBAROSSA. 79 

gates, a precaution to which the emperors were compelled to submit. 
This was at a very early period a subject of contention between the 
inhabitants of Pavia and Conrad II, whose palace, seated in the heart 
of the city, they had demolished in a sedition, and were unwilling to 
build in that situation. 

Such was the condition of Italy when Frederick Barbarossa, duke 
of Swabia and nephew of the last emperor, Conrad III, ascended 
the throne of Germany, A. D. 1 152. His accession forms the com- 
mencement of a new era, the duration of which is about one hundred 
years, and which is terminated by the death of Conrad IV, the last 
emperor of the House of Swabia. It is characterized, like the former, 
by three distinguishing features in Italian history — the victorious 
struggle of the Lombard and other cities for independence, the final 
establishment of a temporal sovereignty over the middle provinces by 
the popes, and the union of the kingdom of Naples to the dominions 
of the House of Swabia. The Italians soon discovered that Frederick 
Barbarossa was a very different sovereign from the last two emperors, 
Lothaire and Conrad III, who had seldom appeared in Italy, and 
whose forces had not been adequate to rule such insubordinate sub- 
jects. This prince had a severe and arbitrary temper, and a haughty 
conceit of his imperial rights. Combined with these qualities were 
distinguished valor and ability which rendered him very formidable. 
He believed, or professed to believe, the great absurdity that, as 
successor of Augustus, he inherited the kingdoms of the world. 
According to the same standard of right he claimed with more author- 
ity, if not more reason, the entire prerogatives of the Roman emper- 
ors over their own subjects, and the professors of the civil law, which 
was now diligently studied, sustained him with the utmost servility. 

To such a disposition as Frederick possessed the self-government 
of the Lombard cities appeared real rebellion, and against Milan 
especially, the most celebrated of them all, he cherished the most 
inveterate resentment. Its behavior toward Lodi afforded him a good 
pretext for interference. Two natives of that ruined city threw them- 
selves at the emperor's feet and implored him, as the ultimate source 
of justice, to redress the wrongs of their country. A striking illustra- 
tion of the terror inspired by Milan is the fact that the consuls of 
Lodi disavowed the complaints of their countrymen, and the inhab- 
itants trembled at the danger of provoking a summary vengeance 
against which the imperial arms seemed no protection. The Milanese, 
however, did not attack the people of Lodi, but treated with contempt 
the emperor's order to leave them at liberty. Otho Morena, a citizen 



80 ITAL Y STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

of Lodi, wrote an interesting account of these circumstances, which 
Sismondi criticized by reproaching Morena for partiality towards 
Frederick in the Milanese war; but that historian should have remem- 
bered the provocations of Lodi. 

Frederick, meanwhile, entered Italy and held a diet at Roncaglia, 
where complaints poured in from many quarters against the Milanese. 
Pavia and Cremona, their ancient enemies, were impatient to renew 
hostilities under the imperial auspices. Brescia, Tortona, and Crema 
were allies, or rather dependents, of Milan. Frederick soon found 
an occasion to attack the latter confederacy. Tortona was compelled 
to surrender and leveled to the ground. In a short time the feudal 
army was dissolved ; the emperor's attention was demanded at Rome, 
where he had contentions with Pope Adrian IV, and when the impe- 
rial troops were withdrawn from Lombardy the Milanese rebuilt 
Tortona and expeUed the citizens of Lodi from their dwellings. 
Frederick assembled a fresh army, to which almost every city of 
Lombardy, willingly or by force, contributed its militia. It is said 
to have exceeded one hundred thousand men. The Milanese shut 
themselves up within their walls, and perhaps might have defied the 
imperial forces if their immense population, which gave them confi- 
dence in their strength, had not exposed them to a different enemy. 
Hunger compelled them to capitulate, upon conditions not very 
severe, if a conquered people could ever safely rely upon a conven- 
tion that testifies their submission. At the end of three weeks an 
order was given to the Milanese to evacuate their habitations, and the 
imperial army instantly occupied the deserted streets. The people 
of Pavia and Cremona, of Lodi and Como were commissioned to 
revenge themselves on the respective quarters of the city assigned to 
them ; and in a few days the pillaged churches stood alone amid the 
ruins of what had been Milan. The freedom to which Lombardy 
had aspired had vanished, and she groaned beneath the yoke of serv- 
itude. "But there still remained at the heart of Lombardy," says 
Hallam, "the strong principle of national liberty, imperishable among 
the perishable army of her patriots, inconsumable in the conflagration 
of her cities." Frederick placed the imperial eagle on the spire of 
the Milan cathedral in token of his supremacy. 

In the same year that the city surrendered (A. D. 1159), Pope 
Adrian IV died, and the papal party elected Alexander III, while the 
imperialists conferred the honor upon Victor IV. Each pontiff 
excommunicated his rival and his followers, and all Christendom was 
divided into two parties. Alexander III was more generally acknowl- 



82 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

edged, and he successfully resisted his formidable enemy, Frederick, 
while the latter was fighting the cities of Lombardy; but the fall of 
Milan gave the emperor control of Northern Italy and made Rome 
an unsafe place for the pope. Sicily was so torn with violence and 
strife that it no longer offered the pontiff his accustomed asylum, and 
he fled into France, where he remained three years. During this 
period his rival, Victor IV, died, and Guido of Crema succeeded him, 
under the name of Pascal III. While the emperor was detained in 
Germany, Alexander III returned to Rome, A. D. 1165. An alliance 
against Frederick, called the ''Lombard League," was organized, 
A. D. 1 167, and this combination of all his enemies seriously threat- 
ened his power. Taking the field in person, he vainly attempted to 
capture Ancona; but Rome surrendered to him, and the pope fled. 
A pestilence in his army caused Frederick to abandon the city. He 
made an effort, A. D. 11 74, to take the new Guelfic city of Alessan- 
dria, near Pavia, but was defeated by the forces of the ''League." 
In the battle of Legnano, A. D. 11 76, the emperor's troops were 
routed, and a truce between the hostile parties was soon arranged at 
Venice. Frederick condescended to prostrate himself at the feet of 
Alexander III, the haughty pontiff, in the celebrated Church of St. 
Mark, and to receive from him the kiss of peace. 



Chapter VIL 

ARNOLD OF BRESCIA. 

ABOUT the beginning of the twelfth century there was born In 
the town of Brescia, Italy, the eloquent and earnest reformer, 
Arnold, whose career was both stormy and brilliant. In early life he 
became a devout student of the Bible, and was a reader in the public 
congregation. Having a deep love of learning he went to the desert 
of Nogent, in France, to be instructed by Abelard, whose fame was 
then filling Christendom. As a pupil of the celebrated scholastic he 
advanced in wisdom until, in some respects, he surpassed his teacher. 
Abelard was his superior in genius and knowledge, but not in fervid 
eloquence, practical piety, courage, and entire devotion to the great 
cause of elevating humanity. 

Arnold returned to Italy, not as a mystic, to discuss the subtleties 
of philosophy, but as a fearless champion of the truth, to battle fof 



ARNOLD ATTACKS THE PAPACY. 83 

reform. He beheld the corrupt condition of the Italian Church, 
which resulted from the anomalous union of the spiritual and the 
temporal. The clergy had become worldly. From the highest eccle- 
siastic downwards they filled civil offices, presided in the cabinets of 
princes, imposed taxes, commanded armies, owned extensive domains, 
and lived in luxury. Arnold was convinced that the immense wealth 
of the Church was the source of innumerable evils — the profligacy, 
the ignorance, the wickedness, the intrigues, the wars and bloodshed 
which cursed the world. His scheme of reform was based on the 
great truth that the Christian Church was not of this world, and 
therefore its ministers ought not to accept temporal offices and engage 
in temporal employments. He maintained that kings and statesmen 
could discharge these secular duties, and to these civil rulers should 
be surrendered all the enormous revenues from lands and palaces 
which had been flowing into the coffers of the ministry and were not 
necessary to the performance of their spiritual functions. His theory 
was that the ministry should be supported by the voluntary offerings 
of their flocks, and not depend upon secular occupations, which con- 
sumed their time, degraded their office, and corrupted their hearts. 

It was evident that this bold Italian reformer had sat at the feet 
of a wiser teacher than Abelard, and had drunk from diviner fount- 
ains than those of the scholastic philosophy. With his monk's cloak 
around him, and with a countenance stamped with resolution, he 
stood in the streets of his native Brescia, and in thunder tones an- 
nounced his proposed reform. His predecessors had demanded a. 
purification of the faith of, the Italian Church, but he called for a rec- 
tification of her constitution. Hence his plan was more radical and 
comprehensive than any that had yet been submitted. The towns- 
men of Arnold gathered round him. All classes were disgusted more 
or less with the corruptions of the clergy, and, though they did not- 
manifest a strong desire for spiritual Christianity, they welcomed at 
least an external reformation. The bishop of Brescia was stunned by 
the sudden and daring assault of Arnold, but soon recovered when 
he saw his entire congregation deserting the cathedral and assem- 
bling in the market-place, and listening with applause to the eloquent 
preacher. He resolved to silence the brave monk. 

Arnold, however, continued to denounce the prevailing evils, not 
only those in his own community, but the more glaring abuses of the- 
proud hierarchy which had its center on the "Seven Hills " of Rome,, 
and extended its circumference to the extremities of Christendom. 
He demanded that this apostate system, which had crowned itself 



84 ITALY STRUGGLIXG INTO LIGHT 

with temporal dignities and supported itself by temporal arms, should 
reform and return to the simplicity and purity of the first century. 
It was not probable that one man, even of Arnold's courage and elo- 
quence, could produce such a reformation ; but he hoped to arouse 
the populations of Italy to such an extent that the Vatican would be 
compelled to yield to the pressure. He was not alone in this cru- 
sade, men of prominence, such as Maifredus, the consul of Brescia, 
having sustained his movement from its origin. 

The bishop of Brescia, finding that he could not successfully con- 
tend against Arnold when in the midst of his numerous followers, 
presented a complaint to the pope. Innocent II, who convoked a 
General Council in the Vatican, A. D. 1139, and summoned the 
offending monk to appear. He went to Rome, and though in the 
estimation of the hierarchy he had committed the most heinous of 
crimes in attacking the authority, pleasures, and riches of the priest- 
hood, yet they must invent other pretexts on which to condemn him. 
It was said of him that *'he was unsound in his judgment about the 
sacrament of the altar and infant baptism." Another suspicious cir- 
cumstance was the heresy of Abelard, his teacher. St. Bernard sent 
to Innocent II a catalogue of the errors of Abelard, accusing him of 
' ' teaching concerning the Eucharist, that the accidents existed in the 
air, but not without a subject; and that when a rat doth eat the sac- 
rament, God withdraweth whither he pleaseth, and preserves where he 
pleases the body of Jesus Christ." He was accused of rejecting tran- 
substantiation and baptismal regeneration, and was condemned to 
perpetual silence and banishment from Italy until permitted to return 
by the pope. 

After leaving his native land, and passing the Alps, he proceeded 
to France, where he met an old fellow-student, the papal legate, Guido, 
afterward Pope Celestinus II ; but he found in Bernard of Clairvaux 
an unrelenting adversary, who compelled him to seek refuge in Zurich, 
and then in Constance about A. D. 1140. Otho says, ** Arnold set- 
tled himself in a place of Germany called Turego, or Zurich, belong- 
ing to the diocese of Constance, where he continued to disseminate 
his doctrine," the seeds of which no doubt vegetated until the times 
of Zwinglius. He preached against the abuses of the clergy, and 
had many favorable hearers. But Bernard traced him there also, and 
caused the bishop of Constance to banish him. 

Having been informed of the death of Innocent II, which occurred 
A. D. 1 143, Arnold returned to Rome in the beginning of the pon- 
tificate of Eugenius III (i\. D. 1144-45). It may appear strange that 



ARNOLD RETURNS TO ROME. 85 

a man under the condemnation of a pope and council should delib- 
erately march into the gates of Rome, and defy the power of the 
Vatican, or, as Gibbon calls it, ''the desperate measure of erecting- 
his standard in Rome itself, in the face of the successor of St. Peter." 
But this action of Arnold was not as desperate then as it would have 
been at other times. The Italy of those days was perhaps the least 
papal of all the countries of Europe. In speaking of the fifteenth 
century, M'Crie says: "The Italians could not, indeed, be said to feel 
at this period a superstitious devotion to the See of Rome. This did 
not originally form a discriminating feature of their national character; 
it was superinduced, and the formation of it can be distinctly traced 
to cases which produced their full effect subsequently to the era of 
the Reformation. The republics of Italy in the Middle Ages gave 
many proofs of religious independence, and singly braved the men- 
aces and excommunications of the Vatican at a time when all Europe 
trembled at the sound of its thunder." This remark is eciually applic- 
able to Italy in the twelfth century. Sedition and tumult were com- 
mon at the gate of the Vatican. Indeed, in no city did rebellion so 
often break out as in Rome, and no rulers were so ignominiously and 
frequently driven from their capital as the popes. 

When Arnold entered Rome he found it in the midst of revolu- 
tion. Lucius II had died of the wounds received in a popular affray, 
and Eugenius III, a disciple of Bernard, succeeded him in the papal 
chair, but was driven away from the city by the people and the sen- 
ate. Arnold put himself at the head of the insurrection, and endeav- 
ored to direct the agitation in a wholesome channel. With burning 
eloquence he portrayed the humble and holy lives of the first Chris- 
tian bishops, and the sufferings of the first Christian martyrs. He 
urged upon the Romans to arise and unite with him in the effort to 
restore the glorious times of the past. The primitive simplicity and 
virtue that once characterized the clergy of Italy would return when 
the wealth that burdened them was taken away. The buyers and 
sellers who had entered the Temple must be expelled. This cour- 
ageous monk insisted that there should be a separation between the 
temporal and spiritual jurisdiction, rendering unto the pope the things 
of the pope, even the government of the Church, and to the emperor 
the things of the emperor, namely, the government of the state. He 
believed that the ancient flame of liberty might be revived from its 
ashes, and the bright form of a pure Christianity cleansed from its 
corruptions. In glowing terms he described the noble achievements 
of the patriots and heroes of classic ages, and declared that such 



86 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

lofty characters and illustrious deeds might again shine upon Italy. 
Rome could become once more the capital of the world. **He pro- 
pounded to the multitude," says Bishop Otho, "the examples of the 
ancient Romans, who, by the maturity of their senators' counsels, 
and the value and integrity of their youth, made the whole Avorld 
their own. Wherefore he persuaded them to rebuild the capitol, to 
restore the dignity of the senate, to reform the order of knights. He 
maintained that nothing of the government of the city did belong to 
the pope, Avho ought to content himself only with his ecclesiastical." 
Thus the monk of Brescia demanded the separation of the spiritual 
from the temporal under the very shadow of the Vatican. 

The multitude in Rome hurried on to excesses v/hich Arnold prob- 
ably had never contemplated. The houses of the cardinals and nobles 
were attacked, and the plunder distributed among the revolutionises. 
Arnold, however, still remained poor ; he really despised wealth, and 
his morals were irreproachable. For about ten years, A. D. 1145-55, 
he continued to prosecute his mission in Rome, which was in a state 
of agitation little differing from anarchy ; at war with the popes and 
the people of Tibur, and at variance within itself. Bernard, in his 
epistles, draws a fearful picture of the state of the city at that time. 
The pontificial chair was repeatedly emptied. The popes of that era 
were short-lived. They seldom resided in Rome, but more frequently 
went to Viterbo, or retired to a foreign country. When they ven- 
tured within the walls of the cit}^, they intrust-ed their personal safety 
rather to the gates and bars of their stronghold of St. Angelo than 
to the loyalty of their subjects. Eugenius III died, A. D. 1153, and 
his successor, Anastasius IV, followed him to the giave shortly after. 
Arnold's influence was great, and his party numerous. If the Ro- 
mans had possessed virtue enough during these ten favorable years, 
when the city was in their hands, a movement might have been in- 
augurated which would have produced important results for the cause 
of liberty and the Gospel. Arnold labored in vain to recall a spirit 
that was fled for centuries. Rome was a sepulcher. Her population 
could be stirred into tumult, not aAvakened into life. 

The golden opportunity passed. Then came Adrian IV, who 
was elected pope A. D. 1154, and was the only Englishman who 
ever ascended the throne of the Vatican. He was a man of more 
determined spirit than his predecessors. A cardinal having been 
attacked and seriously wounded in the streets of Rome, Adrian re- 
sorted to the bold measure of excommunicating the first city in Chris- 
tendom, a thing without a precedent. The Romans, who had set at 



THE MARTYRDOM OF ARNOLD. 87 

naught the temporal power of the pope, trembled before his spiritual 
authority. In order to be reconciled to the pontiff they exiled Ar- 
nold, who took refuge among some friendly nobles in Campania. 
The portals of the churches, to them the gates of heaven, were again 
opened to the penitent citizens. But the banishment of Arnold did 
not appease the anger of Adrian, who bargained with Frederic Bar- 
barossa, then a visitor in Rome soliciting from the pope coronation 
as emperor, that the monk should be arrested. Arnold was seized, 
sent to Rome under a strong escort, and, after being strangled, his 
body was burned and the ashes thrown into the Tiber ' ' to prevent 
the foolish rabble from expressing any vene-ration for his dust." 
This indicated that his followers in Rome were numerous to the last. 
But they could not resist the tide of iniquity that seemed to increase 
every day. Alexander III, Adrian's successor, died A. D. 1181, 
and he was followed by Lucius III, whose reign closed A. D. 1185. 
Urban III then assumed the reins, but yielded them to Celestine III, 
A. D. 1 187. 



Chapter VIII. 

THE FRANCISCANS AND DOMINICANS. 

THE religious condition of Italy in the thirteenth century did not 
indicate any tendency toward reform. Indeed, the absurd and 
degrading superstitions which characterized the practice of the 
Romish Church rather increased than diminished. There were many 
causes which concurred to render still darker that cloud which con- 
cealed from the world the divine light of a genuine Christianity. 
The Roman pontiffs resisted every effort to limit their authority or 
to encroach upon their prerogatives ; and the theologians, by their 
intricate distinctions, obscured the plain truths of religion. The pub- 
lic mind was prepared to accept almost any superstition or usurpa- 
tion. In the fourth Lateran Council, which was held by Innocent 
III, A. D. 121 5, and composed of an immense number of eccle- 
siastics and embassadors from almost every court in Christendom, 
without condescending to enter into any consultation, he produced 
seventy canons, already prepared, which were read to the assembly, 
who submissively subscribed the decrees ; in which, however, they 
had the consolation to find their own powers extended and con- 
firmed. The first canon contained a confession of faith, in which the 



88 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. ' 

opinion, which is still maintained by the Romish Church, respecting 
the eucharist, was pronounced by Innocent to be the only true and 
orthodox account of the Lord's-supper ; and he had the honor of 
establishing the use of the term transtibstantiatioriy which was hith- 
erto almost unknown. Innocent III had also the credit of insti- 
tuting by his own authority, among the duties prescribed by the 
divine laws, that of miricidar confession to a priest — a confession 
which implied not only a general acknowledgment, but also a par- 
ticular enumeration of the sins and follies of the penitent. 

The thirteenth century wasv further distinguished by the institution 
of two of the most celebrated orders of monks which have ever 
misled or disturbed the world — the Franciscans and Dominicans. 
The professed object of these orders was to recover, by means of their 
humility, poverty, and apostolic zeal, the credit which had been lost 
to the Church in Italy and elsewhere through the pride, wealth, and 
indolence of the elder monks. It was also claimed that the Church 
was entering upon a new era, and therefore demanded new services. 
Preachers were needed to confute the heretics, and this want of the 
Church was kept in view in the constitution of the newly created 
orders. The founders of both were very unlike in their natural dis- 
position and temper. 

St. Francis, the founder of the Franciscans — Fratres Minores 
(Younger Brethren), or Minores, as he called them, to signify their 
humility — was born at Assisi, in Umbria, Italy, A. D. 1182. His 
father was a rich merchant of that town. The historians of St. 
Francis relate that certain signs accompanied his birth, which prog- 
nosticated his future greatness. His mother, when about to be con- 
fined, appeared to be dying. For many days previous she had 
experienced severe and prolonged pains. At that crisis an angel, in 
the garb of a pilgrim, appeared at her door and demanded alms. 
The charity sought was instantly bestowed, and the grateful pilgrim 
proceeded to tell the inmates what they must do in order that the 
lady of the mansion might become the joyful mother of a son. She 
must be carried out in her couch and laid in the stable. The pil- 
grim's instructions were followed, the pains of labor were now 
speedily ended, and the child first beheld the light among the 
"beasts." "This was the first prerogative," remarks one of his his- 
torians, "in which St. Francis resembled Jesus Christ — he was born 
in a stable." Despite this augury recorded by Francesco Fontana, 
another writer, D'Emillianne, says that Francis grew up "a debauched 
youth, and, having robbed his father, was disinherited ; but he 



THE MONK IN ROME. 89 

seemed not to be very much troubled at it." He was seized with a 
mahgnant fever, which produced a frenzy that appears never to have 
wholly left him. When stricken down with disease he was a gay 
spendthrift and profligate, but when he arose from his bed of sick- 
ness he was entirely engrossed with the idea that all holiness and 
virtue consisted in poverty. His subsequent conduct was in har- 
mony Avith his belief He gave away all his property ; he exchanged 
garments with a beggar whom he met on the highway, and wandered 
about the country around his native town of Assisi. Emaciated, 
squalid, covered with rags, and dirt, and his eyes burning with a 
strange fire, he was followed by a crowd of boys, who believed him 
to be a madman, and accordingly hooted at him. Having secured 
seven disciples, he proceeded to Rome to present his plan to the 
pope. When he arrived there he found Innocent HI promenading 
on the terrace of the Lateran palace. 

What a scene for an artist ! The haughtiest of the pontiffs — 
who, like another Jove, had but to nod, and kings were tumbled 
from their thrones, and nations were smitten down with interdict — 
was pacing to and fro beneath the pillared portico of his palace, 
revolving, doubtless, new and mightier projects to illustrate the glory 
and strengthen the dominion of the papal throne. His eye occasion- 
ally wanders as far as the Apennines, which rise up like a grand wall 
around the Campagna. The latter then lay spread out beneath 
him — not as now, a blackened expanse, but a magnificent garden, 
sparkling with villas, and gay with vineyards and olive and fig trees. 
While this glorious prospect was visible from the front of his palace, 
another very different scene in the opposite direction met the pon- 
tiffs eye. Extending from the Lateran to the Coliseum was a 
hideous gap covered with the fragments of what had once been 
palaces and temples. This unsightly spectacle marred the beauty of 
the pontifical city, and being a memorial of the war of investiture, 
would naturally call the thoughts of Innocent back to the times 
of Hildebrand and the fierce struggles which his zeal for the growth 
of the papacy had provoked in Christendom. 

During the century which had elapsed since Gregory VII swayed 
the scepter which Innocent now held, a tide of prosperity had flowed 
in upon Rome. All the popes, from Gregory to Innocent, had been 
continuously and successfully engaged in rearing a stupendous Babel, 
whose height received an addition in every pontificate and in every 
decade. At this time the papal fabric stood complete. Indeed, it 
seemed impossible to conceive of a higher advance. Rome was now 



90 ITAL V 577? UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

more truly mistress of the world than even in the days of the 
Caesars, and her influence went deeper into the heart and soul of the 
nations. Again, she sent forth her legates as of old, her proconsuls 
to govern the kingdoms that were subject to her authority ; again 
she issued her edicts, which all the world obeyed ; again kings and 
suppliant princes waited at her gates ; again embassadors and suitors 
from every part of Christendom crowded her highways. The pilgrim 
and the devotee came from the most distant regions to pray at her 
holy shrines. From her gates there flowed day and night, without 
intermission, streams of papal blessings to refresh the faithful through- 
out the world. She bestowed with a lavish hand mystic virtues 
and priestly offices, crosiers and palls, pardons and dispensations, 
relics and am.ulets, benedictions and anathemas ; and, in return, she 
received tribute from all the nations. The thoughts of Innocent, no 
doubt, were resting on these pleasant subjects as Francis of Assisi 
approached him. 

The eye of the pontiff is immediately arrested by the strange 
figure before him. Halting a few moments. Innocent surveys him 
more closely, and finds him in the garb of a beggar, with haggard 
looks and fierce eyes ; yet, despite his repulsive appeai^ance, there was 
something about him that indicated his determination to discharge 
an important duty. He seemed to say, "I come with a mission, and 
therefore do I venture into this presence. I am not here to beg, but 
to give alms to the popedom." Innocent did not then- appreciate 
the fact ; but this man in rags had come to lay at the feet of Rome 
greater gifts than most of the kings had it in their power to bestow. 
The pope, curious to know what his strange visitor had to commu- 
nicate, permitted him to address him. Francis hurriedly explained 
the object of his mission ; but Innocent, failing to comprehend the 
importance of the project, or doubting the ability of Francis to 
execute it, dismissed the enthusiast, who retired disappointed and 
downcast, believing that his scheme was *' nipped in the bud." 

The mind of the pontiff, however, had been more deeply im- 
pressed by this incident than he was aware, and while resting on 
his couch by night the beggar seemed again to stand before him 
pleading his cause. Innocent dreamed that a palm-tree suddenly 
sprang up at his feet and became great in stature. In a second 
dream he beheld the Lateran ready to fall, and Francis stretching 
out his hand to save it. When the pope awoke he commanded the 
man of Umbria to be brought before him. The cardinals were im- 
mediately convened, and, after considering the project, pronounced it 



ST. DOMINIC. 91 

good ; and it appeared proper to Innocent and his conclave that the 
enthusiast who conceived the enterprise should be appointed to exe- 
cute it. Accordingly, Rome gave her commission to the ragged 
beggar, A. D. 121 5, and, armed with the pontifical sanction, author- 
izing him to found, arrange, and put in operation such an order as 
he had sketched out, Francis went forth to begin his work. The 
enthusiasm that burned so fiercely in his soul kindled a similar feeling 
in that of others. In a short time he found a dozen men who were 
willing to become his followers ; the dozen speedily multiplied into a 
hundred, and the hundred into thousands, until the increase went on 
at a rate of which history scarcely affords another example. Before 
his death St. Francis had the satisfaction of seeing five thousand of 
his monks assemble in his convent in Italy to hold a general chapter ; 
and, as each convent sent only two delegates, the convention repre- 
sented two thousand five hundred convents. The solitar}' fanatic had 
become an army ; all the countries of Christendom were full of his 
disciples, whose every idea and object were subordinated to that of 
their leader, and, united together by their vow, they labored with 
remarkable zeal to promote the cause to which they had consecrated 
their lives. The Franciscans have enrolled among their number five 
popes and forty-five cardinals. 

St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominicans, was born in Ara- 
gon, A. D. 1 1 70. He possessed the fiery enthusiasm and intense 
zeal of Francis, and to these qualities he added a somewhat stern 
temper, cool judgment, firm will, and great acquaintance with affairs 
of the world. Having seen the ravages of heresy in the southern 
provinces of France, he desired the adoption of more effectual meas- 
ures to arrest its progress. He was convinced of the futility of those 
splendidly equipped missions which Rome had sent forth from time to 
time to convert the Albigenses. He saw that these missionaries left 
more heretics on their departure than they had found on their arrival. 
Mitered dignitaries, mounted on richly caparisoned mules, were fol- 
lowed by a sumptuous train of priests, monks, and other attendants, 
who, too proud or too ignorant to preach, were only successful in 
dazzling the gaze of the multitude by the magnificence of their cere- 
monies. While this pageant most conclusively indicated the wealth 
of the Romish Church, it did not attest with equal conclusiveness 
the truth of its doctrines. Instead of bishops on palfre}'s, Dominic 
called for monks in wooden soles to preach to the heretics. 

He resolved to visit Rome, and also submit his scheme to Inno- 
cent, offering to raise an army that would perambulate Europe and 



92 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

promote the interests of the "Holy See." With garb as humble, and 
habits as austere, and speech as plain as those of the peasants they 
were to address, these missionaries would soon win the heretics from 
their errors. Another inducement presented by St. Dominic was 
that they would live on alms, and ask no support from the papal 
treasury. Innocent, however, for some reason, refused to sanction 
the scheme. Having so recently indorsed the Franciscans, he may 
have considered the one organization sufficient. But Pope Honorius 
was more favorable, and confirmed the project ; and from beginnings 
equally small with those of the Franciscans the growth of the Do- 
minicans in popularity and numbers was equally rapid. 

The Dominicans were divided into two bands, each having its 
peculiar work. One went forth to preach, while the other was em- 
ployed in exterminating those who refused to be converted. D'Emil- 
lianne calls the latter class **a troop of merciless fellows, whom he 
[St. Dominic] maintained to cut the throats of heretics when he was 
a-preaching ; he called them the militia of Jesus Christ.'' By this 
division of labor heresy was refuted and heretics effectually silenced. 
So rapidly did the number of preaching friars increase that in a few 
years their voices were heard in almost all the cities of Europe. 
They were generally ignorant men ; but their enthusiasm made them 
eloquent, and admiring crowds listened to their harangues. In the 
centuries before the Reformation the Franciscans and Dominicans 
accomplished for the papacy what the Jesuits have done for it in the 
centuries that have followed it. 

These newly organized orders were different in some respects 
from those which already existed in Italy and elsewhere. The 
monks of the latter were recluses, who had no relation to the world 
which they had abandoned, and no duties to perform to it. Their 
world was the cell, or the inclosure within the walls of the monastery, 
where their whole time was presumed to be spent in prayer and 
meditation, thus presenting an example of austere piety for the edi- 
fication of others. The Franciscans and Dominicans, on the other 
hand, were not confined to a particular spot. Their convents were 
not places of seclusion, but rather hotels or temporary abodes, 
where they could rest on their preaching tours. They perambulated 
provinces and cities, addressing the people every -where and at all 
times, on the Sabbath and week-days, and erecting their pulpit in the 
market, at the street-corner, or in the chapel. The secular or paro- 
chial clergy seldom preached, because they were too ignorant to 
prepare a sermon, and too indolent to deliver it, even were it written 



THE MENDICANT ORDERS. 93 

for them. Preaching was, therefore, among the lost arts; and these, 
pastors endeavored to instruct their flocks by ceremonial services, 
prayers, and litanies in a language which the people could not 
understand. The friars, on the contrary, visited all classes of the 
community, and preached to them in their own familiar tongue. 

The new monastic disciples appeared in striking and favorable 
contrast to the old in regard to their earthly possessions. The latter 
w^ere very rich, while the former were exceedingly poor, living on 
alms, and literally begging as a means of support. The name of 
mejidicajits was therefore applied to them, and they accepted it, say- 
ing that the profession was ancient and holy because Christ and 
apostles were mendicants. The early monks had taken the vow 
of poverty; and, though they could not, as individuals, possess 
property, yet in their corporate capacity they might and did possess 
it to an enormous amount. But the Franciscans and Dominicans, 
individually and collectively, were disqualified by their vow from 
holding any property whatever. They w^ere not allowed to own a 
penny, and their profession of poverty was confirmed by their plain 
garb and frugal diet. With a great reputation for sanctity, Avhich 
gave them a proportionate influence among all classes, they seemed 
to be exactly adapted to the age in which they appeared and to the 
w^ork which was committed to them. They were truly the house- 
hold troops of the Vatican, or the regular soldiers of the pope, sent 
throughout Christendom in two bands, yet constituting one united 
army, which became stronger every day, and which, having nothing 
to resist its progress, marched victoriously forward against heresy, 
and extended the fame and dominion of the papal See. 

The habit or dress of these friars consisted of a great hood, a 
scapulary, a knotted girdle, and a wide cope. The Dominicans w^ore 
a wdiite gown of coarse woolen cloth, wdiich was girded by a broad 
sash. The Franciscans were clad with a similar gown, though browm 
in color, which was tied with a cord of three knots, Avhich, ''they 
say," writes D'Emillianne," hath virtue to heal the sick, to chase 
away the devil, and all dangerous temptations, and serve what turn 
they please." These gowns contained numerous and capacious 
pouches in which these begging friars deposited amulets, rosaries, 
little images, square pieces of papers, scraps of bread and cheese, 
morsels of flesh, and other victuals. But while their humble dress 
and scanty fare were outward signs of poverty, they also served as a 
cloak to conceal the secret accumulation of wealth. The more dis- 
criminating friars could discover a distinction between proprietors and 



94 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT, 

stewards. As the original constitution of the orders remained unal- 
tered, no member could be a proprietor; but any one might be a 
steward and possess wealth to any amount, provided it should be 
dispensed for the benefit of the order. This ingenious distinction was 
sanctioned by the ''Constitution," issued by Nicholas III, in 1279, 
in Avhich the rule of St. Francis is explained and confirmed. The 
gates of their convents, which had been so effectually closed by a 
most stringent vow of poverty, as yet unrepealed, were unlocked by 
this new interpretation, and immediately a stream of gold, emanating 
from their devoted admirers, began to flow into the coffers of the 
"mendicants." They refused to becom.e landed proprietors, but the 
splendor of their edifices surpassed those of the Benedictines and 
Augustinians. In Italy and other countries they had churches in 
which the skill of the architect and the genius of the painter were 
fully displayed, and their convents and cloisters were worthy to have 
been the habitations of monarchs. The writer in traveling from 
Perugia to Terni beheld the convent of St. Francis d'Assisi, which 
stands on the lower slope of the Apennines, overlooking the vale of 
the Clitumnus. It is in magnificence a palace, and in size it is almost 
a small town. In it is the tomb of the man who died under a bor- 
rowed cloak. 

This wealth produced indolence, insolence, a corruption of man- 
ners, and a grievous abuse of those vast privileges and powers which 
the papal see conferred upon these monastic institutions. Their 
prodigious increase in riches was followed by a corresponding declen- 
sion, which was even more rapid than former ages had witnessed in 
the Benedictines and Augustinians. 

During the thirteenth century, amid the prevailing darkness and 
superstition, the study of literature and philosophy engaged the 
attention of a few individuals in Italy. Among the prominent authors 
were Giuncelli, Ghislieri, Fabricio, Onesto, d'Arezzo, da Lucca, Pis- 
ano, Sanese, and Fiorentino. Brunetto Latini was the teacher of 
Dante and the author of // Tcsoro, written first in French and after- 
wards translated into Italian, in which he aimed to give a cyclopaedic 
view of the state of knowledge at that time. Guido Cavalcanti, one 
of the best friends of Dante, was styled by Benvenuto da Imola, the 
second eye of Italian literature, of which Dante was the first. He Avas 
a philosophic poet, possessed a deep knowledge of the human heart, 
and was accustomed to moral reflections. The first book in Italian 
prose was the Chronica, by Matteo Spinello, a Neapolitan, relating the 
history of events from A. D. 1247 to A. D. 1268. The honor of writ- 



CO UNTESS MA TILDA. 95 

ing history in a neat style belongs also to Ricordano Malespini, a Flor- 
entine, who died about A. D. 1281. Pietro Crescenzi, of Bologna, 
wrote several scientific works. At that time the scholastic divinity 
and the philosophy and logic of Aristotle pervaded the schools of 
Italy. Thomas Aquinas, who was born A. D. 1224, stood at the 
head of these sciences. He was descended from the ancient kings of 
Sicily, had considerable enthusiasm, and, though a strong Roman 
Catholic, would not accept the archbishopric of Naples. He took 
the habit of the Dominicans, A. D. 1241, and, after visiting Paris 
and lecturing to admiring audiences, returned to Italy, became divin- 
ity professor to several universities, and at last settled at Naples, 
where he led a chaste and devout life. He was called the angelical, 
and Bonaventura, another professor, the seraphic, doctor. 



Chapter IX. 

THE GUELES AND GHIBELINES. 



THE political history of Italy during the thirteenth century pre- 
sents the sad spectacle of a people comparatively free, but so 
weakened by hostile factions that they could not resist accepting 
despotic rule. After the election of Frederick II as emperor of 
Germany a series of contests occurred during his minority, from A. 
D. 1 198 to A. D. 1216. Pope Innocent III desired to consolidate a 
separate principality for the '* Holy See" in the center of Italy. The 
real or spurious donations of Constantine, Pepin, Charlemagne, and 
Louis had given rise to a perpetual claim on the part of the popes 
to very extensive dominions; but little of this had been effectuated, 
and in Rome itself they were thwarted by the prefect, an officer who 
swore fidelity to the emperor, and by the insubordinate spirit of the 
people. The cities contiguous to Rome were not ruled by the cap- 
ital, and were probably as much self-governed as those of Lombardy. 
In reading of the desperate wars between Rome and Tibur or Tus- 
culum, neither of which was subjugated until the latter part of the 
twelfth century", we are reminded of the earliest days of the republic. 
The popes pretended also to have a claim to the duchy of Spbleto, 
the march of Ancona, and what had been the exarchate of Ravenna. 
In a former age the famous Countess Matilda, to whose zealous 
protection Gregory VII had been indebted during his long dispute 



96 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

with the emperor, Henry IV, granted the reversion of all her posses- 
sions to the "Holy See," first in the life-time of Gregory, and again 
under the pontificate of Pascal HI. These were very extensive and 
held by different titles. She certainly could not dispose of her vast 
imperial fiefs — Mantua, Modena, and Tuscany. "The duchy of 
Spoleto and march of Ancona," says Hallam, "were supposed to 
rest upon a different footing. I confess myself not distinctly to com- 
prehend the nature of this part of her succession. These had been 
formerly among the great fiefs of the kingdom of Italy. But if I 
understand it rightly they had tacitly ceased to be subject to the 
emperors some years before they were seized by Godfrey, of Lor- 
raine, father-in-law and step-father of IMatilda. To his son, her 
husband, she succeeded in the possession of those countries. They 
are commonly considered as her allodial or patrimonial property; yet 
it is not easy to see how, being herself a subject of the empire, she 
could transfer even her allodial estates from its sovereignty. Nor, 
on the other hand, can it apparentl}' be maintained that she was 
lawful sovereign of countries which had not long since been imperial 
fiefs, and the suzerainty over which had never been renounced. The 
original title of the " Holy See," therefore, does not seem incontestable 
even as to this part of Matilda's donation. But I state with hesita- 
tion a difficulty to which the authors I have consulted do not advert. 
It is certain, however, that the emperors kept possession of the whole 
during the twelfth century; and treated both Spoleto and Ancona as 
parts of the empire, notwithstanding continual remonstrances from 
the Roman pontiffs." 

At the negotiations of Venice, A. D. 1177, Frederick Barbarossa 
promised to restore the patrimony of Matilda in fifteen years; but at 
the close of that period Henry IV was not disposed to execute this 
arrangement, and granted the county in fief to some of his German 
followers. His death resulted in producing a condition of affairs 
favorable to Innocent III. The infant king of Sicily had been 
intrusted by Constance to his guardianship. The princes of Germany 
engaged, in a civil war growing out of the double election of Philip, 
brother of Henry VI, and of Otho, duke of Brunswick, entirely 
overlooked the claims of young Frederick. As neither party was 
able to enter Italy, the imperial throne was vacant for several years; 
but the death of Philip removing one competitor, Otho IV, whom the 
pope had constantly favored, was crowned emperor. During this 
interval the Italians had no superior; and, of course. Innocent III 
embraced the opportunity to maintain the pretensions of the "Holy 



THE PAPAL PO WER INCREASING. 



97 



See, " resting his claims upon a questionable document called the will 
of Henry VI, which was said to have been found among the baggage 
of Marquard, one of the German soldiers who had been invested 
with fiefs by the late emperor. In the twelfth century the cities of 
the ecclesiastical state had their own municipal government, like 
those of Lombardy; but they w^ere far less able to assert a complete 
independence. They gladly, therefore, accepted the protection of 
the **Holy See," which promised to secure them from Marquard and 
other rapacious partisans without disturbing their internal regulations. 
Thus Innocent III obtained possession of the duchy of Spoleto and 
march of Ancona; but he was not sufficiently strong constantly to 
rule such extensive territories, and some years afterward adopted the 
wise course of granting Ancona in fief to the marquis of Este. The 
pontiff at the same time w^as careful to maintain his authority at 
home, and compelled the prefect of Rome to swear allegiance to 
him, thus ending the regular imperial rule over that city and abridging 
the privileges of its citizens. This is the proper era of that temporal 
sovereignty which the bishops of Rome possessed over their own city, 
though various causes prevented it, for nearly three centuries, from 
becoming unquestioned and unlimited. 

It was not difficult now^ to understand the policy of Rome, which 
was more clearly defined than ever. She resolved to preserve what 
she had thus suddenly gained, rather by opportunity than by strength, 
and therefore endeavored to weaken the imperial power, and, conse- 
quently, to maintain the freedom of the Italian republics. Formerly 
a marquis of the emperor's appointment ruled Tuscany, though her 
cities were flourishing, and within themselves independent. Desiring 
to imitate the Lombard confederacy, and strongly urged by Innocent 
III, they organized a similar league for the preservation of their 
rights. Pisa, which was always strongly attached to the empire, did 
not enter into the combination. The influence of the pope was far 
more strongly manifested in this league than in that of Lombardy. 
The latter had been an ally of Alexander III, and was formed dur- 
ing the height of his dispute with Frederick; yet so little did this 
ecclesiastical quarrel intrude itself into the struggles for liberty that 
it is not alluded to in the act of their confederacy. INIuratori says 
that the Tuscan union was expressly established "for the honor and 
aggrandizement of the apostolic see. The members bound them- 
selves, to defend the possessions and rights of the Church, and not 
to acknowledge any king or emperor without the approbation of 
the supreme pontiff." The Tuscans, therefore, were more strongly 



98 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

attached to the Church party than to the Lombards, whose principle 
was animosity towards the house of Swabia. Hence, when Innocent 
III subsequently supported Frederick II against the emperor, Otho 
IV, the Milanese and their allies espoused the imperial cause, but 
the Tuscans continued to favor the pope. 

During the wars between Frederick Barbarossa and Milan the 
cities of Lombardy were divided, and a large number of them were 
firmly attached to the imperial party. History does not inform us, 
but it is probable that even at this early period the citizens did not 
agree upon questions of public policy, and therefore a particular city 
adhered to the emperor, or to the Lombard league, according as one 
faction or another controlled its councils. The existence of jealous- 
ies for a long time between the different classes, and which were only 
suspended by the termination of the national struggle at Constance, 
produced new modifications of interests, and new relations towards 
the empire. About A. D. 1200, or perhaps a little later, the two 
leading parties which divided the cities of Lombardy were distin- 
guished by the celebrated names of Guelfs and Ghibelines, the former 
supporting the papal faction, and the latter, the imperial. ,These 
appellations, derived from Germany, where they had been the rally- 
ing word of party for more than half a century, directed and invigo- 
rated the prejudices of these cities, whose mutual animosity had not 
as yet been violently manifested. The Guelfs took their name from 
a very illustrious family, several of whom had successively been dukes 
of Bavaria, in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The heiress of the 
last of these intermarried with a younger son of the house of Este, a 
noble family settled near Padua, and possessed of great estates on 
each bank of the Lower Po. They gave birth to a second line of 
Guelfs, from whom the royal house of Brunswick is descended. The 
name of Ghibeline is derived from a village in Franconia, whence Con- 
rad the Salic came, the progenitor, through females, of the Swabian 
emperors. At the election of Lothaire, A. D. 1125, they were disap- 
pointed of what they considered almost an hereditary possession ; and 
at this time an hostility appears to have commenced between them 
and the house of Guelf, who were nearly related to Lothaire. Henry 
the Proud, and Henry the Lion, representatives of the latter family, 
were frequently persecuted by the Swabian emperors : but their for- 
tunes belong to the history of Germany. Meanwhile the elder branch, 
though not reserved for such glorious destinies as the Guelfs, con- 
tinued to flourish in Italy. The marquises of Este were by far the 
most powerful nobles in Eastern Lombardy, and about the end of the 



FREDERICK AND HONORIUS. 99 

twelfth century began to be considered as heads of the Church party 
in their neighborhood. Sismondi states that they were frequently 
chosen to the office of podest^, or chief magistrate, by the cities of 
Romagna, and the people of Ferrara, A. D. 1208, set the fatal ex- 
ample of sacrificing their freedom for tranquillity, by electing Azzo 
VII, marquis of Este, as their lord, or sovereign. 

Otho IV, the son of Henry the Lion, and, consequently, the head 
of the Guelfs, on obtaining the imperial crown, diverted the preju- 
dices of Italian factions out of their usual channel. In a short time 
he and Pope Innocent III were engaged in a bitter controversy, as 
the latter was hostile to the empire, whoever might be its ruler. 
Hatred of the house of Swabia, however, prevailed more than jeal- 
ousy of the imperial prerogatives. In Milan, and generally in the 
cities which had belonged to the Lombard league against Frederick 
I, the people adhered to names rather than principles, and supported 
a Guelf emperor even against the .pope. From this period every 
city, and almost every citizen, gloried in one of these barbarous de- 
nominations. The imperial party ruled several cities through hatred 
of their neighbors, who espoused that of the Church. Thus the 
inveterate feuds between Pisa and Florence, Modena and Bologna, 
Cremona and Milan divided them into opposite factions. But there 
was in every one of these a strong party against that which prevailed, 
and consequently a Guelf city frequently became Ghibeline, or con- 
versely, according to the fluctuation of the time. 

This change in the politics of the Guelf party lasted only during 
the reign of Otho IV. When the heir of the house of Swabia had 
reached manhood. Innocent, who, though his guardian, had taken 
little care of his interests as long as he flattered himself with the hope 
of finding a Guelf emperor obedient, placed the young Frederick at 
the head of an opposition, composed of cities always attached to his 
family and of such as implicitly followed the see of Rome. He was 
successful to a considerable extent, both in Italy and Germany, and 
after the death of Otho received the imperial crown. But he could 
no longer obtain assistance from the pope who conferred it. Innocent 
died, and Honorius III, his successor, beheld with apprehension the 
vast power of Frederick supported in Lombardy by a faction which 
balanced that of the Church, and menaced the ecclesiastical territories 
on the other side by the possession of Naples and Sicily. This king- 
dom, feudatory to Rome, and long her firmest ally, was thrown into 
the hands of her most dangerous enemy by a fatal connection, which 

she could not prevent. Hence the temporal dominion which Inno- 

8 



100 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

cent III labored so earnestly to establish, became a very precarious 
possession, exposed on each side to the attacks of a power that had 
legitimate pretensions to almost every province composing it. 

According to a custom observed by every pope, to urge princes 
into a crusade for the recovery of Palestine, Honorius III exacted a 
vow from Frederick, before he conferred upon him the imperial crown, 
that he would undertake a similar mission. Frederick evidently was 
not sincere, because he endeavored afterward to evade the eno^ag-e- 
ment. He became by marriage nominal king of Jerusalem ; but his 
excellent judgment was not captivated with so barren a prospect, and 
at length his delay in the performance of his vow provoked Gregory 
IX to issue against him a sentence of excommunication. Frederick 
could not disregard such a thunder-bolt, and sailed the next year for 
Palestine. Believing that he had not committed a crime, he refused 
to solicit absolution, and thereby excited the court of Rome to still 
greater indignation against him, whom they regarded as too profane to 
conduct a crusade. Upon the arrival of Frederick in Palestine he 
received intelligence that the papal troops had invaded the kingdom 
of Naples. He could have abandoned the Holy Land without ac- 
complishing any thing advantageous; but he made a treaty with the 
Saracens, which, though not as satisfactory as under all the circum- 
stances might have been expected, served as a pretext for new cal- 
umnies against him in Europe. He repelled the charge of irreligion, 
so easily and successfully propagated, by issuing persecuting edicts 
against heresy that do not honor his memory and availed him little 
at the time. He ruled his Neapolitan dominions with great rigor, 
which, perhaps, was rendered necessary by the levity and insubordi- 
nation of the inhabitants, but which resulted, through the artful 
representations of Honorius and Gregory, in alarming and alienating 
the Italian republics. 

Since the peace of Constance a new generation had risen up in 
Lombardy, and the prerogatives reserved by that treaty to the em- 
pire were so seldom called into action that few cities were disposed 
to recollect their existence. They called themselves Guelfs or 
Ghibelines, according to habit, and out of their mutual opposition, 
but without much reference to the empire. Those of the former 
party, and especially Milan, remained hostile to the house of Swabia. 
If established usage creates a right, Frederick II was entitled to the 
sovereignty of Italy ; but the Milanese would never acknowledge 
him, nor permit his coronation at Monza, according to ancient cere- 
mony, with the iron crown of the Lombard kings. The pope 



THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC. lOI 

labored to the extent of his power to foment this disaffected spirit, 
and encouraged the Lombard cities to renew their former league. 
While this was in accordance with a provision in the treaty of Con- 
stance, it was manifestly antagonistic to Frederick, and may be con- 
sidered as the commencement of a second contest betw^een the 
republican cities of Lombardy and the empire. But there was a 
striking difference between this and the former confederacy against 
Frederick Barbarossa. Almost every city in the league, formed A. D. 
1 167, seemed to forget all smaller animosities in the great cause of 
defending the national privileges, and contributed its share of effort 
to sustain that perilous conflict. The existence of even a transient 
unanimity in a people so distracted by internal faction as the Lom- 
bards is the strongest evidence of the justice of their cause. Their 
war against the second Frederick, sixty years afterward, had less of 
provocation and less of public spirit. It was, in fact, a party strug- 
gle of Guelf and Ghibeline cities, to which the names of the Church 
and the empire gave more of dignity and consistence. 

In the thirteenth century the republics of Italy were so numerous 
and independent, and their revolutions so frequent, that it is difficult 
to give the history of each in regular order. For convenience, 
therefore, they may be divided into four clusters or constellations ; 
not, indeed, unconnected one with another, yet each having its own 
center of motion and its own boundaries. The first of these we 
may suppose formed of the cities in central Lombardy, between the 
Sessia and the Adige, the Alps and the Ligurian mountains ; it com- 
prehends Milan, Cremona, Pavia, Brescia, Bergamo, Parma, Piacenza, 
Mantua, Lodi, Alessandria, and several others less distinguished. 
These were the original seats of Italian liberty and the principal 
leaders in the wars of the elder Frederick, Milan was at the head 
of this cluster of cities, and through her influence the Guelf party 
obtained the ascendancy ; she had, since the treaty of Constance, 
rendered Lodi and Pavia almost her subjects, and was in close union 
with Brescia and Piacenza. Parma and Cremona, however, were 
unshaken defenders of the empire. In the second class we may place 
the cities of the march of Verona between the Adige and the fron- 
tiers of Germany. Of these there were but four worth mentioning: 
Verona, Viacenza, Padua, and Treviso. The citizens of all the four 
were inclined to the Guelf interests ; but a powerful body of rural 
nobility, who had never been compelled, like those upon the Upper 
Po, to abandon their fortresses in the mountainous country or reside 
within the walls, connected themselves with the opposite denom- 



102 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT, 

ination. Sismondi says that some of them had great authority in 
the civil feuds of these four repubhcs ; and especially two broth- 
ers, Eccelino and Alberic da Romano, of a rich and distinguished 
family, celebrated for its devcition to the empire. The former by 
remarkable vigor and decision of character, by dissimulation and 
violation of oaths, by the intimidating effects of almost unparalleled 
cruelty, became, after some years, the absolute master of three 
cities — Padua, Verona, and Vicenza ; and during the continuance of 
his tyranny the Guelf party was entirely everthrown beyond the 
Alps. His cruelties excited universal horror, even in an age when 
inhumanity to enemies was as common as fear and revenge could 
make it. All over Italy beggars generally resorted to the trick 
of pretending that the Veronese tyrant had deprived them of their 
eyes or limbs. ** There is hardly an instance in European his- 
tory," says Hallam, "of so sanguinary a government subsisting 
for more than twenty years." The crimes of Eccelino are well 
authenticated by the testimony of several contemporary writers, who 
enter into great details. Sismondi is more full than any of the 
moderns. Another cluster was composed of the cities in Romagna ; 
Bologna, Imola, Faenza, Ferrara, and several others. Of these 
Bologna was far the most powerful, and as no city was more steadily 
and earnestly devoted to the interests of the Church, the Guelfs 
usually predominated in this class — a result to which the influence 
of the house of Este largely contributed. Modena, though not 
geographically within the limits of this division, may be classed along 
with it from her constant wars Avith Bologna. A fourth class will 
comprehend the whole of Tuscany, separated almost entirely from 
the politics of Lombardy and Romagna. Florence was at the head 
of the Guelf cities in this province, Pisa, the Ghibeline. As we have 
already stated, the Tuscan union was formed by Innocent III, and 
was strongly in favor of the papal party ; but gradually the Ghibeline 
acquired its share of influence, and the cities of Sienna, Arezzo, and 
Lucca shifted their policy according to external circumstances or the 
fluctuations of their internal factions. The petty cities in the region 
of Spoleto and Ancona hardly perhaps deserve the name of repub- 
lics; and Genoa does not readily fall into any of our four classes, 
unless her wars with Pisa may be thought to connect her with Tus- 
cany. In this division Piedmont has not been mentioned, because no 
important events have been transmitted connecting it with the repub- 
lics already named. It was at this time divided between the counts 
of Savoy and marquises of Montferrat. But Asti, Chieri, and Turin, 



N 

FREDERICK II AND GREG OR V IX. I03 

especially the two former, appear to have had a republican form of 
government. They were, however, not absolutely independent. The 
only Piedmontese city that can properly be considered as a separate 
state, in the thirteenth century, was VercelH ; and even there the 
bishop seems to have possessed a sort of temporal sovereignty. 

The Guelf cities, after several years of transient hostilities and 
precarious treaties between the Lombard confederacy and Frederick 
II, engaged in a regular and protracted war with him, or more projD- 
erly with their Ghibeline adversaries. This contest is not deserving 
of a detailed historical record. Neither party ever obtained such 
decisive advantages as had alternately belonged to Frederick Barba- 
rossa and Lombardy during the preceding century. The emperor 
defeated the Milanese at Corte Nuova, A. D. 1237; but the next 
year this victory was balanced by his unsuccessful siege of Brescia. 
Assisted by the Pisans, he gained a great naval triumph over the 
Genoese fleet, A. D. 1241 ; but he was compelled to abandon the 
blockade of Parma, which had renounced the Ghibeline cause, A. D. 
1248. The tedious struggle, however, ultimately exhausted the 
strength of the house of Swabia ; the Ghibelines of Italy had their 
vicissitudes of success, but their country, and even themselves, lost 
more and more of the ancient connection with Germany. In this 
resistance to Frederick II the Lombards received the constant support 
of Gregory IX and his successor, Innocent IV ; and the Guelf party 
and the Church were used as synonymous terms. The hatred 
of these pontiffs to the house of Swabia was unquenchable ; their 
animosity could not be mitigated by any concessions, and they would 
not favor any reconciliation. 

Frederick II was not without faults, but it is impossible foe any 
one not blindly devoted to the papacy to deny that he was iniqui- 
tously proscribed by her unprincipled ambition. This is especially 
exhibited in the contest betvv'een him and Gregory IX. No sooner 
was the latter placed in the papal chair than, contrary to all justice 
and order, he excommunicated the emperor for deferring his expedi- 
tion against the Saracens to another year, though that delay was 
manifestly owing to a fit of sickness which seized that prince v/hen he 
was ready to embark for Palestine. At length the emperor arrived 
in the Holy Land, A. D. 1228, and the insidious pontiff, taking 
advantage of his absence, made war upon his dominions and used 
his utmost efforts to arm against him all the Furopcan powers. 
When Frederick heard of these violent and perfidious proceedings he 
returned to Europe, A. D. 1229, defeated the papal army, retook 



104 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

the places he had lost in Sicily and Italy, and in the following year 
made his peace with the pontiff, from whom he received a public and 
solemn absolution. But this peace was only temporary. The em- 
peror's real crime was the inheritance of his ancestors and the name 
of the house of Swabia, and consequently Gregory would not permit 
him to enjoy a tranquil reign. On the other hand, Frederick could 
not tolerate the imperious temper and insolent proceedings of Gregory. 
He, therefore, resolved to punish the pontiff; and, as we have 
already stated, he distressed the cities of Lombardy which were in 
alliance with the Roman See, seized upon the island of Sardinia, 
which Gregory considered as a part of his spiritual patrimony, and 
erected it into a kingdom for his son Entius. These, with other 
measures equally provoking to the avarice and ambition of Gregory, 
drew the thunder of the Vatican afresh upon the emperor's head, 
and he was publicly excommunicated, A. D. 1239, with all the cir- 
cumstances of severity which vindictive rage could invent, accused 
of the most flagitious crimes and the most impious blasphemies. 
The exasperated pontiff even sent a copy-of these charges to all the 
courts of Europe. The emperor, on the other hand, defended his 
injured reputation by solemn declarations in writing, while, by his 
victorious arms, he avenged himself of his adversaries, maintained 
his ground, and reduced the pontiff to the greatest distress. 

The emperor found himself able to enter the States of the Church, 
A. D. 1239, and march upon Rome. In that city his claims w^ere 
so strongly and loudly advocated that Pope Gregory, perceiving his 
danger, marched in procession through the streets, preceded by the 
wood of the true cross and the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul, 
and called on the multitude to take up arms for the Church. This 
imposing appeal to superstitious enthusiasm was successful. A cru- 
sade was preached against Frederick ; and the same indulgences in 
the line of present license to sin and future deliverance from purga- 
torial fires were extended to the new crusaders as were formerly con- 
fined to warriors in the Holy Land. Even the priests enrolled them- 
selves among the combatants ; and in a single day the pontiff was at 
the head of an army strong enough to resist all the forces of the 
emperor. Frederick retired into Apulia ; but he was indignant at 
the preaching of a crusade against himself, as if he had been an 
open enemy of religion, which he revenged by ordering all the pris- 
oners who wore the sign of the cross to be put to death. To extri- 
cate himself from these difficulties, and to assist his own authority 
by the voice of the Church, Gregory summoned a general council, 



THE PAPAL FLEET CAPTURED, 105 

and directed all bishops to assemble in Rome at Easter, A. D. 1241. 
His main purpose was to depose the emperor by the unanimous 
suffrages of the cardinals and prelates ; and Frederick, anticipating 
an unfavorable decision from such a council, sent letters to all the 
sovereigns of Europe protesting against it. Not content with mere 
protests, he resolved to capture the French bishops, who had sailed 
from Nice, convoyed by a powerful Genoese fleet. By the orders 
of Frederick, they were met off the island of Meliora by the fleets 
of Sicily and Pisa. A bloody battle was fought, in which the Pisans 
were completely victorious. Four thousand Genoese were sent pris- 
oners to Sicily, and the unfortunate cardinals and bishops were 
brought to Pisa. Their treasures were seized, and the reverend 
fathers themselves were imprisoned and fettered ; but because of 
their sacred calling and lofty rank they were closely confined in the 
chapter-house of the cathedral, and their chains were chains of silver. 
It is not certain, however, that the illustrious captives derived any 
comfort from this fact. The amount of treasure obtained was so 
enormous that it was divided among the Pisans and Sicilians by 
bushels, reminding us of the bushel of gold rings gathered from the 
soldiers after the battle of Cannae. One prominent result of this 
sea-fight was the infliction of mortification and grief upon the vener- 
able pope. This disappointment, attended with others which gave 
an unhappy turn to his affairs and blasted his most promising expec- 
tations, dejected and consumed the despairing pontiff, and contrib- 
uted probably to his death, which occurred within three months, 
A. D. 1241. 

Geoffry, bishop of Milan, who succeeded Gregory IX, under the 
title of Celestine IV, died before his consecration, and for about two 
years the papal chair was vacant. During this interregnum there 
was much wrangling and fighting between the aristocrats and ple- 
beians in many of the Italian cities. In Milan a dispute arose with 
respect to the election of an archbishop ; and ,the chapter agreed to 
refer the question to the decision of one ''Brother Leo," a holy 
man, who was represented to be entirely free from terrestrial ambi- 
tion. Brother Leo accepted the responsibility ; but after long delib- 
eration he announced that he could think of no one so fit to fill the 
office as himself, and forthwith, to the astonishment and disgust of 
both parties, stepped into the position. 

Senibald, one of the counts of Fiesque, was raised to the pontif- 
icate, A. D. 1243, and assumed the title of Innocent IV. His eleva- 
tion offered at first a prospect of peace, as he had formerly been 



I06 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

attached to the interests of the emperor ; and accordingly conferences 
were opened, and a reconcihation was proposed. But the terms 
offered by the new pope were too imperious and extravagant not to 
be rejected with indignation by the emperor. After these futile 
attempts at negotiation, Innocent, affecting a dread of personal 
violence from Frederick, and not esteeming himself safe in any part 
of Italy, left his palace at night in disguise, and, departing from 
Genoa, the place of his birth, succeeded in reaching Lyons safely, 
A. D. 1244. In the following year he there convened the general 
council, which the capture of the French bishops a few years before 
had postponed. The emperor was represented by Peter de Vencis 
and Thaddaius de Suessa. At the opening of proceedings Thaddseus 
offered on his master's part, if he might be reconciled to the Holy 
Father, to recall the Greek Empire to the unity of the Romish 
Church, to undertake a new crusade at his own expense, and to 
restore to the Church the possessions he had taken from it — the ful- 
fillment of these provisions to be guaranteed by the kings of France 
and England. But Frederick had sinned too deeply to be forgiven. 
Innocent adroitly avoided the settlement. Said he: "I shall not 
accept his offer; for, did he fail in the fulfillment of his contract (as 
I have not the slightest doubt he would), I should have to fall back 
on his securities ; and then the Church would have three enemies of 
unequaled power instead of one." 

At that time Lyons was an imperial city ; but Frederick could 
no longer retain his supremacy over it. In this assembly, where one 
hundred and forty prelates appeared, the question whether Frederick 
ought to be deposed was solemnly discussed. He submitted to 
defend himself by his advocates ; and the pope, in the presence, 
though without formally collecting the suffrages, of the council, pro- 
nounced a sentence by which Frederick's excommunication was 
renewed, the empire and all his kingdoms taken away, and all his 
subjects absolved from their fidelity. Matthew Paris says, "The 
pope and the prelates sitting round him in council, with lighted 
tapers thundered forth dreadful sentence against the Emperor Fred- 
erick, whilst his agents retreated in confusion." As soon as these 
proceedings were reported to their object he burst into a violent 
rage. "Has the pope, then, deprived me of my crown?" he 
shouted. "Bring me my jewel-case." He seized his crown, set it 
on his head, and, with a voice almost inarticulate with passion, 
exclaimed : ' * No pope or council shall take it from me without a 
bloody struggle. I am better off than I was before the sentence. 



THE PENITENT EMPEROR. 10/ 

Then I was bound in some things to obey — at least, to respect him ; 
but now I am released from all obligation." This is the most pom- 
pous act of usurpation in all the records of the Church of Rome ; 
and *'the tacit approbation of a general council," says Hallam, 
"seemed to incorporate the pretended right of deposing kings, 
which might have passed as a mad vaunt of Gregory VII and his 
successors, with the established faith of Christendom." 

After the emperor had been deposed, and the imperial throne 
declared vacant, the effect of the sentence was soon manifested in 
cowardly plots for the assassination of Frederick, some of which 
were known to the pope. The consciousness of these plots and a 
life of incessant anxiety began to break down the hitherto uncon- 
querable spirit of the emperor. His protracted war with the Church 
wearied him, and he resolved to renew his efforts for a reconciliation. 
In the garb of a penitent he set out on a friendly visit to the pope ; 
but while on the way to Rome he heard that the pope's adherents 
had excited a revolt against him in Parma. Frederick, postponing 
his penitence till a more convenient season, rapidly collected an army, 
and besieged the rebellious city. The siege was maintained for some 
months ; but on one occasion the besieged, taking advantage of the 
emperor's absence at hawking, made a sally into the German Winter- 
quarters, and completely routed the besieging army, taking three 
thousand prisoners. Frederick, returning from hawking, met his 
army retreating before the victorious Parmese, and was compelled to 
accompany them. He now returned to the obligations of his tardy 
penitence, but without avail, the haughty pontiff scornfully repuls- 
ing him. 

Frederick next determined to establish the Ghibeline party in 
Florence by the expulsion of the Guelfs. These two factions were 
of almost equal strength in that city, and for thirty -two years the 
beautiful streets of Florence had been seldom free from civil war. 
Certain portions of the town formed the battle-fields where the rival 
families contended. Movable barricades, or cJievaux-de-frise, called 
sermgliy which could at a moment's notice be thrown across the 
streets, were kept in readiness at the proper places. A hasty word, 
as is aptly illustrated in "Romeo and Juliet," was ofteru enough to 
cause an appeal to arms ; in an instant the streets were blocked by 
the seiTagli, and the town was soon filled with the dead and dying. 
At night-fall the battle ceased to rage, and each party collected their 
slain. Next day, while peace reigned, the victims of the skirmish 
were buried ; and but few days were permitted to elapse without a 



I08 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

repetition of the same terrible work. Frederick ended this state of 
things in Florence by expelling the Guelf faction utterly from the 
city, and thus giving his own party the predominance. 

About the same time the Bolognese attacked Modena, a city in 
alliance with the empire. The number of the Modenese was so small 
that, shutting themselves within their fortifications, no provocation 
could induce them to take the field. The Bolognese devised an ex- 
pedient, which has at least the merit of originality. Taking the body 
of an ass, they ornamented it with silver fetters, and projected it from 
a powerful catapult into the middle of the town. The donkey unfor- 
tunately alighted in the center of the handsomest fountain in the city. 
The Modenese were so infuriated at this insult that they could no 
longer restrain themselves ; they made a furious sally, and smashed to 
atoms the obnoxious engine. Soon after this incident the city sur- 
rendered and was lost to Frederick. The latter, whose firm and 
heroic spirit had supported him through these cruel vicissitudes, at 
length yielded to the conqueror of all, and died, A. D. 1250. His 
life was wasted in an unceasing contention with the Church and with 
his Italian subjects whom she excited to rebellion against him. 
While this prince was a patron of letters, and possessed many emi- 
nent qualities, he was very ambitious and practiced dissimulation; 
but we must remember that in every period of his reign he was com- 
pelled to act on the defensive almost constantly against the aggres- 
sions of others. But if he had been a model of virtues, such men 
as Honorius III, Gregory IX, and Innocent IV, the popes with whom 
he had successively to contend, would not have given him respite 
while he remained master of Naples as well as the empire. Indeed, 
the hatred of bigoted popish writers has hardly subsided at the 
present day. Tiraboschi commended him very moderately, but the 
Roman editor contradicted the statement. Muratori shows sufficient 
prejudice against the emperor's character, and yet a fierce Roman 
bigot becomes furious in his animadversions of every syllable that 
looks like moderation. Giannone, who suffered for his boldness, has 
highly eulogized Frederick, perhaps too extravagantly, in the six- 
teenth and seventeenth books of the civil history of Naples. 

Pope Innocent IV of course received the tidings of his death with 
exceeding joy, bursting into songs of praise: ''Let the heavens 
rejoice and let the earth be glad; for the storm which the Almighty 
has so long allowed to impend over us is changed by this man's 
death to refreshing zephyrs and fertilizing dews." At this juncture 
the pope thought that the kingdom of Naples would be a valuable 



MILAN WELCOMES THE POPE— CONRAD—MANFRED. 109 

addition to the patrimony of St. Peter, and hence wrote as follows 
to the Neapolitans, impudently ignoring their right to any voice in 
the government of their city. He says: '*We have taken your per- 
sons, your property, and your town itself, under the protection of 
the ''Holy See;" and we have decreed that Naples shall remain 
henceforth under our immediate jurisdiction ; and we guarantee that 
the Church shall never make over the sovereignty, or any right over 
Naples, to any emperor, king, duke, prince, or count, or any person 
whomsoever." Innocent, upon the death of his formidable and mag- 
nanimous adversary, returned into Italy, hoping now to enjoy with 
security the fruits of his ambition. His progress through Lombardy 
was one long triumphal procession. The Milanese especially received 
him with unbounded enthusiasm. He remained with them two 
months, and manifested his gratitude in a somewhat singular manner. 
The city finances being at this time in a depressed condition, the 
Milanese resolved to make a final effort to stave off national bank- 
ruptcy, and accordingly requested the pontiff to appoint a foreign 
magistrate, with the title of podesta, with absolute and unlimited 
power of levying taxes from themselves, by every method which his 
brain could conceive. For four years Gozzadini, the officer appointed, 
exhibited an ingenuity which would excite the envy of a modern 
secretary of the treasury. At the end erf" this period the suppressed 
wrath of the people boiled over, and Gozzadini was killed in a tumult. 
Upon the death of Frederick II, which occurred in Apulia, on the 
13th of December, A. D. 1250, he left to his son Conrad a contest 
to maintain for every part of his inheritance, as well as for the im- 
perial crown. But the vigor of the house of Swabia no longer 
remained ; Conrad was compelled to fight for the kingdom of Naples, 
the only succession he could hope to secure against the troops of In- 
nocent IV, who still pursued his family with implacable hatred, and 
claimed that kingdom as forfeited to its feudal superior, the '* Holy See.'* 
After Conrad's premature death, which happened A. D. 1254, the 
throne was filled by his illegitimate brother, Manfred, Avho retained 
it by his bravery and address, in opposition to the popes, till they 
were compelled to invoke the aid of a more powerful arm. 



no ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



Chapter X. 

THE GROWTH OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS. 

THE death of Conrad brought to a close that period in ItaHan 
history which was nearly coextensive with the greatness of 
the house of Swabia. Perhaps Italy never displayed more national 
energy and patriotism than she did at that time. A Florentine or 
Venetian may recur with pleasure to later days ; but a Lombard will 
cast back his eye across the desert of centuries till it reposes on the 
field of Legnano. In the light of modern events the successful re- 
sistance of the Lombard cities to sucK princes as both the Fredericks 
appears strange to the student of history. But a closer examination 
of the facts gives a satisfactory explanation. The feudal army was 
enlisted only for a short term of service, and was reluctantly main- 
tained in the field at its own cost. It could not, therefore, be effec- 
tually controlled, and besides, many German princes regarded the 
house of Swabia with peculiar distrust and disaffection. Nor did the 
kingdom of Naples, almost always in agitation, yield any material 
aid to the second Frederick. The principal cause, however, of that 
triumph which crowned the efforts of Lombardy was the intrinsic 
energy of a free government. The cities became virtually republican 
in the eleventh century, and from that period they began to put forth 
those vigorous shoots which are the growth of freedom alone. The 
fierce assaults of their national enemies, their mutual wars, and their 
domestic feuds did not check their strength, their wealth, or their 
population; but the republics of Italy were rendered more vigorous 
and courageous by the conflicts they sustained, as the limbs of the 
human body are nerved by labor and hardship. In order to appre- 
ciate the changes produced in Italy by the growth of its cities, we 
must remember what savage license prevailed during the ages preced- 
ing their rise. Penal laws were inadequate because it was impossible 
to execute them. Feudal nobles were then little different from 
robbers, the industrial arts were held in contempt, and rapine and 
violence reigned supreme. During the twelfth century, when the 
cities of Lombardy were in the first stage of their independence, they 
were convulsed by dissensions; but the evils resulting from them ap- 
pear slight and momentary in comparison with the blessings of the 



THE WEALTH OF ITALIAN CITIES. 1 1 1 

new regime. Industry was now protected, injustice controlled, and 
emulation awakened. 

There are only a few authentic testimonies as to the domestic 
improvement of the free Italian cities while they still deserved the 
name. But history declares that their power and population, accord- 
ing to their extent of territory, were almost unprecedented. Galvan- 
eus Flamma, a Milanese writer, gives a curious statistical account of 
that city, A. D. 1288, a date about thirty years after the overthrow 
of its liberties by usurpation. The inhabitants are reckoned at two 
hundred thousand ; the private houses, thirteen thousand ; the nobil- 
ity alone dwelt in sixty streets ; eight thousand gentlemen, or heavy 
cavalry {inilitates), might be mustered from the city and its district, 
and two hundred and forty thousand men capable of arms ; a force 
sufficient, the above-named writer observes, to crush all the Saracens. 
There were in Milan six hundred notaries, two hundred physicians, 
eighty school-masters, and fifty transcribers of manuscript. In the 
district were one hundred and fifty castles, with adjoining villages. 
If such was its prosperity after the destruction of its liberties, it must 
have previously reached a higher degree of advancement, even if we 
make allowance, as probably we should, for some exaggeration. At 
this period the territory of Milan was not large, being bounded at a 
little distance on almost every side by Lodi, or Pavia, or Bergamo, 
or Como. It is possible, however, that Flamma may have intended 
to include some of these as dependencies of Milan, though not strictly 
united with it. The state of cultivation must have been flourishing 
in the district of Milan when it not only drew no supplies from any 
foreign land, but exported part of its own produce. It was in the 
best age of their liberties, immediately after the battle of Legnano, 
that the Milanese commenced the great canal, which connects the 
waters of the Tesino to their capital, a work very extraordinary for that 
time. During the same period these cities advanced in architecture, 
the solidity and magnificence of which may yet be seen, indicating 
the internal prosperity of the Italian republics in the thirteenth cen- 
tury. France and England, perhaps, had more splendid ecclesiastical 
edifices, but neither country, according to Sismondi and Tiraboschi, 
could equal Italy in palaces and public buildings, streets flagged with 
stone, bridges of the same material, and commodious private houses. 

These cities possessed means of defense which inspired security 
and made them courageous, and sometimes insolent. From the time 
of the Romans to that when the use of gunpowder prevailed, very 
little change was made, or perhaps could be made, in that part of 



1 1 2 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

military science which relates to the attack and defense of fortified 
places. According to Muratori, there were the same engines of 
offense, the cumbrous towers from which arrows were shot at the 
besieged, the machines from which stones were discharged, the bat- 
tering-rams which assailed the walls, and the basket-work covering 
(the vinea or testudo of the ancients, and the gattus or chatchateil of 
the Middle Ages) under which those who pushed the battering engines 
were protected from the enemy. On the other hand, a city was for- 
tified with a strong wall of brick or marble, with a tower raised upon 
it at intervals and a deep moat in front. Sometimes the anti-mural 
or barbacan was added ; a rampart of less height, which impeded the 
approach of the hostile engines. The gates were guarded with a 
portcullis, an invention which, as well as the barbacan, was borrowed 
from the Saracens. Having such means of defense, a numerous a,nd 
brave body of burghers, could resist a powerful army ; and it is not 
surprising, therefore, that so many besieged towns exhibited such 
desperate bravery when they knew the terrible consequences that 
would follow capture, and while resistance was seldom hopeless. 
Unless compelled by famine or treachery, few large towns were ever 
taken. Tortona did not submit to Frederick Barbarossa till the 
besiegers had corrupted with sulphur the only fountain that supplied 
the citizens ; nor Crema till her walls were overtopped by the batter- 
ing engines. Ancona nobly endured the pressure of extreme famine. 
Brescia tried all the resources of a skillful engineer against the second 
Frederick, and would not yield when that prince, adopting the atro- 
cious policy of his grandfather, at the siege of Crema, exposed his 
prisoners upon his battering engines to the stones that were hurled 
by their fellow-citizens upon the walls. These sieges, which Sismondi 
so forcibly describes, exhibit the military spirit of the Italian people 
during the IMiddle Ages. 

It is impossible to give a definite sketch of the government which 
existed in the republics of Italy during the twelfth and thirteenth 
centuries. The historians of those times are few and barren in details, 
and, like contemporaries, rather intimate than describe the civil polity 
of their respective countries. If it were even possible it would be 
tedious to delineate the constitutions of thirty or forty little states 
which were in perpetual fluctuation. When the most of them first 
began to throw off the jurisdiction of their count or bishop, they 
elected magistrates called consuls, a word of great significance to the 
Italians, since, in the darkest ages, tradition must have preserved 
some knowledge of the republican government of Rome. The earliest 



THE PODESTAS in LOMBARD Y. 



113 



mention of these magistrates was by Landulf the younger, whose 
history of Milan extends from A. D. 1094 to A. D. 1133. These 
consuls were elected annually and were intrusted with the command 
of the national militia in war, the preservation of public order and 
the administration of justice; their number was various — two, four, 
six, or even twelve. The Lombards, in their legislative and delib- 
erative councils still copied the Roman constitution, or perhaps 
naturally adopted the form best calculated to unite sound discretion 
with the exercise of popular sovereignty. There was also a council 
of trust and secrecy (della credenza), which was composed of a small 
number of persons who managed public affairs, and may be called 
the ministers of the state. But the general council decided all impor- 
tant matters, making treaties of alliance, declaring war, and choosing 
consul or embassadors. This tribunal, it appears, was not uniformly 
constituted in every city, and, according to its composition, the gov- 
ernment was more or less democratical. *'An ultimate sovereignty, 
however," says Hallam, **was reserved to the mass of the people; 
and a parliament or general assembly was held to deliberate on any 
change in the form of constitution." 

About the close of the twelfth century a new and singular species 
of magistracy was introduced into the Lombard cities. During the 
tyrannical reign of Frederick I he had appointed officers of his own, 
called podest^s instead of the elective consuls. Instead of exciting 
insuperable alarm and jdisgust in the free republics, as might be 
expected, this memorial of despotic power was, on the contrary, 
almost universally revived after the peace of Constance. They had 
abrogated it when they first rose in rebellion against Frederick, but 
subsequently favored its restoration. As their domestic factions inter- 
fered with the administration of justice, the republics, in order to 
avoid partiality, adopted the plan of electing a citizen of some neigh- 
boring state, and under the title of podesta he became their general, 
their criminal judge, and preserver of the peace. For the performance 
of the last duty, which was often arduous, a vigorous and upright 
magistrate was needed. During the Middle Ages offenses against 
the laws and security of the commonwealth were more frequently 
committed by the rich and powerful than by the lower class of 
society. From Villani's ''History of Florence," and Stella's ''Annals 
of Genoa," we have many dark pictures of family feuds, rude and 
licentious manners, and private revenge. This state of society ren- 
dered the execution of criminal justice a necessary protection to the 
poor against oppression. When a magistrate pronounced sentence 



1 1 4 ITAL V 527? UGGLING INTO LIGHT, 

upon a powerful offender, a tumult generally followed, and in almost 
every case force was necessary to execute it. The relatives of a con- 
victed criminal did not consider him disgraced, but imputing his 
sentence to iniquity, or glorying in an act which the laws of his 
fellow-citizens, but not their sentiments, condemned, his circle of 
friends were ready to defend him. The law was often enforced, not 
against a family, but a faction, not perhaps against a local faction, 
but the Avhole Guelf or Ghibeline name, which might become interested 
in the quarrel. The podest^, therefore, was compelled to arm the 
republic against the refractory citizen, besiege and raze his house to 
the ground, and overcome his defenders by force. Accustomed to 
outrage and homicide under the rule of their magistrates, the people 
were disposed to repeat such scenes whenever their passions insti- 
gated them. 

The podesta was sometimes chosen in a general assembly, and 
sometimes by a select number of citizens. His office was annual, 
though in peculiar emergencies it was prolonged. He. was invariably 
a man of noble family, even in those cities which excluded their own 
nobility from any share in the government. He received a fixed sal- 
ary, and was compelled to remain in the city after the expiration of 
his office for the purpose of answering such charges as might be 
brought against his conduct. He was neither allowed to marry a 
native of the city nor have any relation resident within the district; 
and so great was their jealousy that he was not even permitted to eat 
or drink in the house of any citizen. These foreign magistrates did 
not have the same authority in all cities. In some it appears that he 
superseded the consuls and commanded the armies in war. In others, 
as Milan and Florence, his authority was merely judicial. Muratori 
refers to old annals in which the years are headed by the names of 
the podestas, as by those of the consuls in the history of Rome. 

The fatal effects which these discordant elements produced in the 
republics of Lombardy were not entirely confined to national interests 
or to the grand distinction of Guelf and Ghibeline. In every city 
dissensions prevailed and became more fierce and irrepressible as the 
danger of foreign war diminished. The feudal system rested upon 
the principle of territorial aristocracy, and maintained the pride of 
rank. When, therefore, they came into the cities to reside, the rural 
nobility preserved the ascendancy of birth and riches. These advan- 
tages were naturally respected by the people, who divided all the 
offices of trust among the nobles. It seems that the inferior citizens 
had the right of choosing their own magistrates by free suffrage from 



CA USES OF THE FEUDS. 1 1 5 

a large body of these nobles. As a form of government this limited 
aristocracy has its commendable features, and affords some security 
against anarchy and oppression. During the eleventh and twelfth 
centuries such a system as this prevailed in most of the Lombard 
cities. A civil war occurred at Milan, A. D. 1041, between the 
capitanei, or vassals of the empire, and the plebeian burgesses, which 
was appeased by the mediation of Henry III. The nobility were 
compelled to leave Milan and carry on the conflict in the adjacent 
plains, and one of their number, named Lanzon, moved either by 
ambition or by real indignation against tyranny, espoused the cause 
of the people. From this period until after the peace of Constance 
dissensions among the two orders are rarely mentioned, and, even 
admitting the defective character of contemporary history, it is evi- 
dent that such disturbances were neither frequent nor serious. There 
was a schism between the nobles and people at Faenza, A. D. 1185, 
and a prolonged civil war occurred between them at Brescia, A. D. 
1200. The domestic tranquillity of other cities was subsequently 
interrupted by mutual jealousies, and about A. D. 1220 the question 
of aristocratical or popular ascendancy was tried by arms in Milan, 
Piacenza, Modena, Cremona, and Bologna. 

It would be unprofitable for a writer of the present age to discuss 
the merits of these feuds, which the meager historians of that period 
seldom attempted to elucidate, and then they permitted their preju- 
dices to control their opinions. Why should we recall the forgotten 
animosities of the past, and, like a partial contemporary, record the 
failings of one or another faction? It is not necessary to have posi- 
tive testimony in order to become acquainted with the general tenor 
of their history. A nobility is always insolent and a populace is 
always intemperate ; and we may safely presume that the former 
began, as the latter ended, by injustice and abuse of power. At one 
time the aristocracy endeavored to exclude the bulk of the citizens from 
suffrage because they selected the annual magistrates from the body 
of the nobles. At another the merchants, whose riches made them 
proud and confident of their strength, sought the honors of the state 
which had been reserved for the nobility. Commercial wealth inevi- 
tably produces such a result ; and the same is true of freedom and 
social order, which are the parents of wealth. In the progress 
of civilization there comes a time when the possessors of exclusive 
privileges must yield, or be overthrown along with their usurpa- 
tions. "In one or two cities," says Hallam, '*a temporary compro- 
mise was made through the intervention of the pope, whereby offices 

9 



1 1 6 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

of public trust, from the highest to the lowest, were divided in equal 
proportions or otherwise between the nobles and the people." This 
expedient was very efficacious in appeasing the dissensions of Rome. 

In all these turbulent scenes, whether the contest was between 
the nobles and people, or the Guelf and Ghibeline factions, the con- 
querors exhibited no mercy. The defeated were deprived of their 
fortunes and homes ; and, retiring to other cities, where their own 
party was in the ascendancy, waited for the opportunity of revenge. 
In a popular tumult the houses of the vanquished were often leveled 
to the ground, not from a "senseless fury," which Muratori con- 
demns, but because these fortified residences were used to inflict 
injury upon the lower citizens. Proscription and forfeiture excite the 
most deadly hatred in men toward their own country ; and no wonder 
Italy was afflicted with calamities when every defeated faction was 
pursued into banishment with unrelenting bitterness. When the 
Ghibelines were returning to Florence, after .the overthrow of the 
Guelfs, A. D. 1260, they proposed to demolish the city itself which 
had expelled them ; and but for the persuasion of one man, Farinata 
degl'Uberti, their revenge would have thus extinguished all patriotism. 
Yet Dante placed this patriot in one of the worst regions of his 
Infenio. This vindictive feeling moved them to invoke assistance 
from every side, and to accept even servitude for the sake of retal- 
iating upon their adversaries. 

The citizens of an Italian state, besides their animosities arising 
from different views of their form of government and their relation 
to the empire, were divided by other causes, insignificant, and yet 
mischievous. The quarrels of private families in every city became 
the foundation of general schism, sedition, and proscription. Some- 
times these were identified with the great names of Guelf and Ghib- 
eline ; sometimes they were more distinctly conspicuous. Imilda de 
Lambertazzi, a noble young lady at Bologna, was discovered by her 
brothers in a secret interview with Boniface Gieremei, whose family 
had long been the inveterate enemy of her own. She had just time 
to escape while the Lambertazzi pierced her lover with their poisoned 
daggers. When she returned she found his body still warm ; and, 
entertaining some hope of his recovery, she sucked the venom from 
his wounds ; but it permeated her own veins, and her attendants 
found both lifeless by each other's side. This cruel outrage mad- 
dened the Gieremei, and they formed alliances with the neighboring 
republics. The Lambertazzi adopted the same measures ; and, after 
a conflict of forty days' duration, they were driven out of the city. 



GIO VANNI DI VICENZA. 1 1 7 

with all the Ghlbellnes, their political associates. Sismondi states 
that twelve thousand citizens were condemned to banishment, their 
houses razed, and their estates confiscated. This contest between 
the Gieremei and the Lambertazzi suggests the story of "Romeo and 
Juliet," which was founded upon an Italian novel, and is not an un- 
natural delineation of Italian manners. 

Florence was at rest until A, D. 12 15, when the assassination of 
an individual produced a mortal feud between the families Boundel- 
monti and Uberti, in which all the cities took part. In the earlier 
stages of the Lombard republics their differences, both mutual and 
domestic, had been often settled by the mediation of the emperors ; 
and the want of this salutary influence was greatly felt in the thir- 
teenth century, when Italy was emancipated from foreign rule. The 
popes sometimes endeavored to interfere, and their authority, though 
not so direct, was held in greater veneration ; but as they were not 
always free from selfishness and revenge, they did not accomplish 
permanent good. Considering the Ghibelines as their own peculiar 
enemies, they labored to secure the triumph of the Guelfs. Gregory 
X and Nicholas III, whether from benevolent motives, or because 
they were jealous of Charles of Anjou, while at the head of the 
Guelfs, advocated the revival of a Ghibeline party as a counterpoise 
to his power. The reign of these pontiffs was distinguished by the 
enforcement of measures of reconciliation in all Italian cities ; but 
their successors returned to the ancient policy and prejudices of Rome. 

Fra Giovanni di Vicenza, a Dominican friar, who began his career 
at Bologna, A. D. 1233, created a profound sensation by preaching 
the forgiveness of injuries and the cessation of war. This singular 
individual, though far less elevated in station than popes or emperors, 
persuaded men to lay down their instruments of warfare and embrace 
their enemies. Tiraboschi, in his account of this new apostle, sa}'s 
that several republics implored him to settle their differences and to 
reform their laws. A general meeting was called in the plain of 
Paquara, upon the banks of the Adige. The Lombards came from 
Romagna and the cities of the March ; Guelfs and Ghibelines, nobles 
and burghers, free citizens and tenantry of feudal lords, stationed 
around their carroccios, eagerly listened to the illusive promise of 
universal peace which the preacher eloquently presented. The masses 
under a popular government are proverbially susceptible of moment- 
ary impulses, and they accordingly submitted to the dictation of Fra 
Giovanni. He arranged terms of agreement or a mutual amnesty ; 
but when reputation and power are suddenly obtained they are gen- 



1 1 8 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

erally transitory, and the star of this pacificator soon disappeared 
below the horizon. He was not content with being- the legislator 
and arbiter of Italian cities, but desired to become their master, and 
was transformed from an apostle into a usurper, abusing the enthu- 
siasm of Vicenza and Verona to acquire a grant of absolute sov- 
ereignty. 



Chapter XL 

DECLINE OF THE IMPERIAL PO WER IN ITAL V. 

AFTER the death of Frederick H the distinctions of Guelf and 
Ghibeline had no real significance. The former party favored 
the nominal but indefinite sovereignty of the empire, and the latter 
party was not disposed to interfere ; yet these fanatical enthusiasts 
of faction continued to be mutually hostile. The most bitter hatreds 
were engendered, and the most fearful crimes were constantly per- 
petrated. 

In the fall of the house of Swabia the Guelfs achieved a great 
triumph; and although the Ghibelines were able for a short time to 
maintain themseh^es, and even to advance in the north of Italy, yet 
two events, which soon after occurred, restored their adversaries to 
power. The first of these was the defeat of Eccelino da Romano, 
A. D. 1259, whose victories followed one another in such rapid 
succession that both Guelfs and Ghibelines feared the establish- 
ment of a cruel despotism, and formed a temporary union, which 
resulted in his overthrow. The atrocities of this tyrant have been 
incidentally mentioned in the previous chapter. He was one of those 
monsters of mankind whose actions render still darker the record of 
the weakness and wickedness of humanity. The details of the crimes 
of ''Eccelino the Ferocious" are so horrible that they have not 
been published by later historians. He was originally a soldier of 
fortune, and possessed that unconquerable energy which at length 
made him ruler of the north of Italy. Alexander IV preached a 
crusade against him, an act sufficient to extenuate many unholy 
actions of the " Holy See." The crusade was first preached in Venice, 
where large numbers of Paduans who had escaped from the tyranny 
of Eccelino were harbored. It was difficult for them to reach this 
city of refuge, because the frontiers were strictly guarded ; and those 



ECCELINO DA ROMANO. II9 

detected in an attempt to cross were punished by the loss of their 
legs or eyes. The Venetians, jealous of the increasing power of the 
tyrant, readily joined the crusade. The first attempt was on the city 
of Padua. Eccelino's lieutenant, in order to check the advance of 
the Venetian fleet, turned the waters of the river Brento into another 
channel. The pope's army, taking advantage of this brilliant ma- 
neuver, marched across the dry bed of the river, beat back the out- 
posts of the Paduan army, and established themselves in the suburbs. 
On the following day the city was assaulted. The besieged set on 
fire the vinea of the storming party. The crusaders then pushed the 
burning mass against the wooden gate of the town ; the gate was 
consumed, and the city captured. A week's pillage ensued. For 
eighteen years it had groaned under Eccelino's tyranny; and now the 
scanty remnants which his avarice or cruelty had spared were seized 
by their liberators. Yet the city was filled with rejoicing, because it 
had been delivered from oppression. A multitude of ghastly people 
emerged from the dungeons of Eccelino. The sight of aged men 
and women, young girls exhausted with torture, and young children 
barbarously mutilated and blinded, enraged the crusading soldiery, 
and excited in them an inextinguishable passion for revenge on the 
monster. In the mean time he heard of the fall of Padua, and was 
maddened with rage. To satisfy his thirst for vengeance Eccelino 
commanded all the Paduan soldiers in his army to be disarmed, and 
they were deposited in his numerous dungeons. Of the whole num- 
ber — about eleven thousand men, or one-third of all his force — only 
two hundred escaped. Some perished on the scaffold, others were 
burned to death, and the great mass of the unhappy wretches died 
of cold and hunger in prison. 

The priests persisted in conducting the crusade, which, owing to 
their incompetence, was prolonged three years. Eccelino's last 
atrocity was committed at Friola. He had besieged and captured 
this town. By his orders, every man, woman, and child had their 
legs and noses cut off, and if they survived this horrible treatment 
they were turned out to beg their bread along the roads. Two 
months after this barbarity he was attacked by the papal forces, his 
army routed, and he, desperately wounded, captured. In a few days 
he died from the effects of his wounds, all regretting his honorable 
fate in dying a soldier's death. 

The second and far more important event which contributed to 
the ascendancy of the Guelfs was the change of dynasty in Naples. 
The fact that Pope Innocent IV sent a paternal letter to the Neapoli- 



I20 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

tans proposing to take their kingdom under his protection, has already 
been stated. Its reception excited a fierce rebelHon against the 
house of Swabia — that is, the family of the late emperor ; but Conrad 
and Manfred, sons of Frederick, speedily suppressed it. The pope 
soon discovered that he could not, by his own unaided force, wrest 
their dominions from these young men, and he therefore determined 
to assign the kingdom of the Two Sicilies (that is, Sicily and Naples) 
to some other prince who would be powerful enough to conquer it, 
and sufficiently humble to acknowledge himself as the pope's vassal. 
The offer, however, was not very tempting, and it was difficult to find 
any one to accept it. It was first offered to the earl of Cornwall ; 
but that prince said that the pope's grant was of about as much 
value as if he were to say, " Here is a grant of the moon, climb up 
and take it." At this crisis in the history of the kingdom Conrad 
died, leaving an infant son, Conradin, in the care of his younger 
brother, Manfred, and of Berthold, his general. After the death of 
the energetic Conrad, the pope changed his tactics. He collected a 
large army from the Guelf cities, and marched into the Neapolitan 
territories. Manfred, while reserving his own and his nephew's 
rights, saw that resistance would be in vain, and he himself con- 
ducted the pope across the frontier, holding his horse's bridle. In a 
short time a quarrel arose between Manfred and his escort, and 
his personal enemy, Borello, attended by a similar escort. In the 
conflict Borello was slain, and Manfred was immediately summoned 
to appear before the pope on the charge of murder. He applied for 
a safe-conduct, and being refused, he began to appreciate his extreme 
danger, and fled to the Saracen colony of Lucera, whose soldiers had 
always been faithful to his family. When he arrived there, he rode 
forward boldly to the gates with only three servants. The governor 
was absent from the town, and his Heutenant, Marchisio, was in com- 
mand, with orders from his chief to keep the gates constantly shut. 
"Here is your prince," cried out Manfred's attendants in Arabic; 
"he trusts your loyalty, throw open your gates." When the 
Saracens heard that the son of their late king had arrived, they were 
filled with enthusiasm, and shouted, "Let him in, let him in, before 
the governor hears of his arrival." They rushed against the gate, 
burst it open, admitted Manfred, and carried him in triumph to the 
palace. Bowling before him they took the oath of allegiance to him, 
and he became master of the town. Lucera contained the imperial 
treasures, and Manfred, obtaining these, took a large number of troops 
into his pay. The situation of affairs was now reversed. He expelled 



URBAN IV AND ST. L O UIS. 1 2 1 

the pope's soldiers from the Capitanata, and they, in full retreat, 
reached Naples just as the pope died — happy to have died too soon 
to hear of this reverse of fortune. 

The weak reign of Alexander IV closed A. D. 1261, and that 
of Urban IV began. The new pope remembered how Manfred, son 
of the late Frederick, had frustrated the ambitious schemes of the 
preceding popes, and, with great cunning, inspired by bitter hostility, 
he commenced to checkmate this successful enemy of the " Holy See. " 
The pontiff felt himself no stronger than his predecessors, but he 
resolved to adopt the plan of Innocent IV, and endeavor to find 
some one who would be glad, with the help of the Church's moral 
support, to win the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and hold it as the 
pope's vassal. His choice was Charles of Anjou. But a difficulty 
in the way was St. Louis, Charles's brother, honorably distinguished 
among the kings of the earth for integrity of life and scrupulousness 
of conscience. Both the nature of his objections, and the methods 
by which they were overcome, may be ascertained from the fol- 
lowing letter of the pope : * ' We have received your letter, from 
which, among other things, we perceive that our dear son in Jesus 
Christ, the illustrious king of France, lends a credulous ear to the 
crafty speeches of those who would gladly frustrate the negotiations 
which we have intrusted to you. They would persuade him that 
Conradin, grandson of Frederick, has some right to the kingdom of 
Sicily ; or, even admitting that he has been lawfully deposed, that his 
right has passed by concession of the "Holy See" to Edmund, son of 
our very dear son in Jesus Christ, the king of England. Thus he 
hesitates, although he sees that the nomination of his brother would 
be conducive to the honor and happiness of the Roman Church. We 
will be especially on our guard to preserve his fair fame from scan- 
dal ; his soul, intrusted to our keeping, from damnation ; his person 
and his state from danger. He should believe that both ourselves 
and our brethren are anxious, with God's help, to keep our con- 
sciences pure, and save our souls before the Author of salvation ; and 
that we know, of certain knowledge, that nothing that we would do 
Ij to the prejudice of Conradin or of Edmund, or of any other man." 

Having overcome the scruples of St. Louis, Urban dealt next 
with those of Charles. But they were of a different kind. A too 
scrupulous conscience was not among bis weaknesses. He was very 
anxious to be king of Sicily, but he wished to pay as little as 
possible for an empty title and the pope's patronage. A bargain 
was finally made that Charles was to pay his holiness the town of 



1 22 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Benevento, and an annual tribute of ten thousand ounces of gold. 
Charles rapidly collected an army of thirty thousand men, and invaded 
the Neapolitan territory. He met Manfred's army drawn up in 
battle array on the plain of Benevento. Manfred made some attempt 
at negotiation, but Charles sent back his envoys with the message: 
* ' Tell him that I am resolved on battle ; and this day I will either 
send him to hell or he shall send me to heaven." At first Manfred's 
army had the advantage, but the treacherous flight of his reserve, at 
a critical moment, turned the fortune of the day. He resolved not 
to survive his defeat. As he was putting on his helmet, the crest, a 
silver eagle, fell off his saddle-bow. ''Hoc est signuni dei,'' said he 
to his barons; "I fastened on this crest myself, and no mere acci- 
dent has loosed it." He rushed into the milee, and, fighting there 
without any royal insignia, perished by an unknown hand. 

Charles had not been long on the throne when the nobles, who 
had deserted Manfred, began to groan beneath the heavy hand of 
the invader. Charles, like all others who are promoted by military 
power, was compelled to purchase the continued favor of the authors 
of his success by unlimited munificence. He bestowed ' upon his 
high officers the confiscated estates of the barons, artd he indefinitely 
increased the number of subordinate government officials in order to 
provide for the inferior soldiery. Under the former government 
there were various petty civil officers, and to each class of these 
Charles added the corresponding functionaries of the French admin- 
istration. He also rigorously exacted all the taxes which had been 
imposed at any time during the reign of Manfred. Where one 
tax had been repealed in order that another might be substituted, 
both were now levied alike. The people were fearfully oppressed, 
and the pope, by writing to Charles an unavailing letter of cen- 
sure for his misgovernment, made but slight and tardy atonement 
for his perfidy. 

Another claimant to the throne which Charles occupied was Con- 
radin, Manfred's nephew. He was only sixteen years of age, and his 
sensible mother was not willing that the inexperienced stripling should 
take the field against such a veteran as Charles. But the Ghibeline 
party was in need of a champion. They represented to Conradin 
that the Sicilians hated the French because they were rapacious and 
licentious. They assured him that all sects and parties would rally 
around the lawful successor to the throne of Frederick. Conradin 
was encouraged by this assurance, and by promises of assistance 
from several of the Lombard princes. He therefore resolved to 



CONRAD IN DEFEA TED. 1 23 

avenge the persecutions of his ancestors, and in a few weeks gath- 
ered a large army, which he commanded. 

Charles marched forward to meet him, but was compelled to 
return to his kingdom, being recalled by tidings of a dangerous revolt. 
The pope, as usual, was ready with a letter of counsel. It said: "I 
know not for what reason I address you as king, seeing you do not 
appear to trouble yourself about your kingdom. Established first by 
brigands, your ministers, it is now devoured by your enemies — the 
caterpillar destroys what has escaped the locust. If you lose your 
crown do not imagine that the Church will renew her labor and 
expense in order to replace it on your head. Perhaps you think that 
your virtues entitle you to a miracle of God on your behalf; or, it 
may be, you are relying on the sagacity you imagine you possess, 
and which you prefer to the good advice of others." 

Meanwhile, the senate of Rome declared in favor of Conradin, 
and the young prince advanced towards that city. By this time the 
youthful warrior had been excommunicated by his holiness with all 
pomp and solemnity. The arrival of Conradin at Rome was cele- 
brated with the magnificence usually given to the emperor alone. 
After resting his troops there for a few days, he set out for Naples 
with five thousand soldiers enlisted under his standard. He marched 
without opposition as far as the plain of Tagliacozzo, where he 
encountered Charles and his army. The main portion of Charles's 
forces was in sight, but he himself, with eight hundred picked men, 
was concealed in a small valley in the rear. Conradin attacked the 
Neapolitan forces and soon routed all whom he saw. His army of 
Germans supposing that the battle was decided, dispersed, as usual, 
for pillage. As soon as the whole army had broken their ranks, 
Charles emerged from his hiding-place, his eight hundred men rushed 
into the field, and easily cut to pieces the scattered troops. 

Conradin escaped from the field of battle, but was captured within 
a few days. At the court which was assembled for his trial Charles 
himself acted as prosecutor. He accused his conquered rival of 
rebellion against the legitimate sovereign, of contempt of the Church's 
sentence, of his alliance with the Saracens, and of the plunder of 
the monasteries. It was urged in defense that Conradin was a pris- 
oner under protection of the laws of war ; that his title to the crown 
was at least plausible ; and that, even if the merits of the case were 
against him, his youth ought to protect him. The judges were 
under the immediate influence of Charles ; but they had neither the 
courage to condemn nor acquit him, and sat there in cowardly 



1 24 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

silence. Only one spoke, giving his verdict for death ; and on the 
authority of that one vote, Charles passed sentence of death on Con- 
radin and his companions. The unhappy youth was led into the 
market-place of Naples. A scaffold was erected on the shore, while 
Charles, from an eminence, looked down upon the dying boy. The 
multitude sympathized most intensely with their rightful prince, but 
a bristling fence of French spears divided them from him. The judge 
who had voted for death stepped forward to read the sentence. 
"But," says Professor Jones, a writer on Italian history, **the days 
of the unjust judge were numbered. Robert, of Flanders, Charles's 
own son in-law, rushed up to him, and exclaiming, 'It beseems not 
thee to condemn a noble prince to die,' buried his sword in his 
breast, and the judge fell dead at the king's feet. Charles did not 
dare to avenge this wild act of justice, though it did not arrest the 
execution. Conradin kneeled in prayer. Rising, he said, 'What 
bitter grief will this day's tidings bring thee, my mother!' while the 
people, and even the soldiery, were dissolved in tears. Five of his 
adherents perished on the same scaffold. All the bodies were bur- 
ied by the seashore in unconsecrated ground ; but long afterwards 
a Carmelite church was built over the place where their remains 
were buried." 

The voice of those rude ages, as well as of a more enlightened 
posterity, has united in branding with everlasting infamy the name 
of that prince, who did not hesitate to purchase the security of his 
own title by the public execution of an honorable competitor, or 
rather a rightful claimant to the throne he had usurped. With the 
death of Conradin, A. D. 1268, the house of Swabia was extin- 
guished ; but Constance, the daughter of Manfred, had transported 
his right to Sicily and Naples into the house of Aragon, by her mar- 
riage with Peter III. The tide of faction was turned over all Italy 
by the success of this monarch, whom the Roman pontiffs selected 
as their champion. He expelled the Ghibelines from Florence, which 
had been completely in their possession since the memorable victory 
a few years before upon the river Arbia. After the fall of Conradin, 
that party was every-where discouraged. Germany did not promise 
any substantial support, even when the imperial throne, which had 
long been vacant, should be occupied by one of her princes. The 
populace in almost every city were attached to the Church and to 
the name of Guelf. The popes, by their excommunications, and the 
kings of Naples, by their arms during the remainder of the thirteenth 
century, rendered the name of Ghibeline a term of proscription in 



THE AMBITIOUS CHARLES. 1 25 

the majority of Lombard and Tuscan republics. Pope Clement IV 
constituted Charles, who was already master of Provence, Naples, 
Sicily, and head of the Guelf party in Italy, vicar-general in Tuscany. 

This was a new pretension of the Roman pontiffs to name the 
lieutenants of the empire during its vacancy, though their consent 
was generally obtained. It soon appeared, however, that Charles 
aimed at the sovereignty of Italy. Some of the popes themselves, 
Gregory X and Nicholas IV, became jealous of their own creature. 
Sismondi states that at the Congress of Cremona, A. D. 1269, it was 
proposed to confer upon Charles the seigniory of all the Guelf cities ; 
but the greater part were prudent enough to choose him rather as a 
friend than a master. Several, however, including Milan, took an 
oath of fidelity to him the same year. A few years later, A. D. 
1273, he was lord of Alessandria and Piacenza, and received tribute 
from Milan, Bologna, and most Lombard cities. He e\idently in- 
tended to avail himself of the vacancy of the empire, and either to 
acquire that title himself, or at least to stand in the same relation as 
the emperors had done to the Itahan states; which, according to the 
usage of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, "left them," says Hal- 
lam, "in possession of every thing that we call independence, with 
the reservation of a nominal allegiance." 

At the latter end of the thirteenth century there were almost as 
many princes in the north of Italy as there had been free cities in 
the preceding age. They were often annoyed with domestic revolu- 
tions, which rendered their seat unsteady, and thus prevented them 
from encroaching on each other. Gradually, however, they decreased 
in number, many obscure tyrants were overthrown in the smaller cities, 
and the people, careless or hopeless of liberty, gladly exchanged the 
rule of mean, petty usurpers for that of more powerful and distin- 
guished families. 

Milan was the most prominent city in supporting both wars against 
the house of Swabia, and manifested the strongest attachment to 
republican institutions, but in a few years after the death of Frederick 
II it was the first to sacrifice them. It had been convulsed for a con- 
siderable time by civil dissensions between the nobility and inferior 
citizens. These parties were about equally divided, and their victories 
were consequently alternate. Each had its own podesta as a party 
leader distinct from the legitimate magistrate of the city. Fra Leon 
Perego, the archbishop of the nobility, was selected as their champion, 
while the people appointed Martin della Torre, who belonged to a 
noble family which had ambitiously supported the democratic faction. 



12(5 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

The two parties became involved in a civil war, A. D. 1257, which 
originated from the crime of a nobleman, who had murdered one of 
his creditors. The conflict was carried on with various success, and, 
though temporary peace prevailed several times, the unhappy dispo- 
sition of the belligerents would not allow the strife to terminate. At 
the end of two years, however, the aristocracy were completely 
defeated, and Martin della Torre was elected chief and lord [capitano 
e signore) of the people. While the Milanese did not probably intend 
to renounce the sovereignty which resided in their general assemblies, 
yet they soon lost the republican spirit. Five of the family Delia 
Torre reigned in succession in ]\Iilan, each having been formally 
elected, but with an implied recognition of a kind of hereditary title. 
Twenty years afterward the Visconti, a family of opposite interests, 
supplanted the Torriani at Milan, and the rivalry between these great 
houses did not end until the final establishment of Matteo Visconti, 
A. D. 1313. 

The victories of Charles of Anjou infused vigor into the Guelf 
party, but they were not very durable. He was soon involved in a 
protracted and unfortunate controversy with the kings of Aragon, to 
whose protection his revolted subjects in Italy had recurred. On the 
other hand, the Ghibeline interests in Lombardy, and even in Tus- 
can cities, were retrieved by several men of energetic character. The 
Visconti were acknowledged heads of that faction. The Della Scala, 
a family early established as lords of Verona, espoused the same 
cause between the Adige and the Adriatic. Castruccio Castrucani, 
an adventurer of remarkable ability, became prince of Lucca, and by 
his influence the imperial party received a large accession from the 
heart of the Guelfs in Tuscany. After his death, however, the an- 
cient order of things was restored. The inferior tyrants were partly 
Guelf, partly Ghibeline, according to local revolutions ; but upon the 
whole the latter obtained a gradual ascendancy. Those, indeed, w^ho 
favored the independence of Italy, or cared for their own power, 
**had far less to fear," says Hallam, ''from the phantom of imperial 
prerogatives, long intermitted, and incapable of being enforced, than 
from the new race of foreign princes, whom the Church had substi- 
tuted for the house of Swabia. " 



THE WALDENSIAN DOCTRINES. 12/ 



Chapter XII. 

THE DOCTRINES AND USAGES OF THE WAIDENSES. 

IN ages so remote events appear dim, and, in the absence of his- 
torical records, it is difficult to obtain a satisfactory account of the 
remarkable people called the Waldenses, who now attracted the atten- 
tion of Europe by their resistance to the papacy. From a variety of 
sources we can glean some interesting facts, sufficient to form a pic- 
ture, though not complete, of their venerable Church. For many 
centuries preceding the Reformation they were the only representa- 
tives of evangelical Christianity of which we have any knowledge. 
We learn from the Nobla Leycon, and other ancient documents, that 
this school of early Protestant theology was presided over by barbes, 
or pastors, who preached the saving doctrines of the Bible. Their 
theological system was not as clear, well-defined, and comprehensive 
as that which the sixteenth century gave to the world ; it was only 
what the faithful men of the Lombard Churches had been able to 
save from the wreck of primitive Christianity. As true religion is a 
revelation, it was perfect in the beginning ; yet it is necessary in this, 
as in every other, branch of knowledge to search after its various 
parts and systematically arrange them. It is only by patient effort 
and thorough investigation that man can come into the full possession 
of the truth. The cardinal doctrine of the Waldensian theology was 
the atoning death and justifying righteousness of Christ. In the 
Nobla Ley^on, or ''Noble Lesson," we find a tolerably clear presen- 
tation of the doctrine of the Trinity, the fall of man, the incarnation 
of the Son, the perpetual authority of the Decalogue as given by 
God ; the need of divine grace in order to good works, the necessity 
of holiness, the institution of the ministry, the resurrection of the 
body, and the eternal bliss of heaven. The professors of this evan- 
gelical creed exemplified it in lives of peculiar virtue. Indeed, the 
blamelessness of the Waldenses passed into a proverb, and if any one 
abstained to a limited extent from the prevailing vices, he was sus- 
pected of being a Vaudois. Dr. Wylie quotes the following passage 
from the Nobla Leycpn: " If there be an honest man who desires to 
love God and fear Jesus Christ, who will neither slander, nor swear, 
nor lie, nor commit adultery, nor kill, nor steal, nor av^enge himself 



128 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

of his enemies, they presently say of such a one, He is a Vaudois, 
and worthy of death." 

If any doubt concerning the rehgious tenets of the Waldenses 
existed, it would be removed by the charges which their enemies 
have brought against them. It is evident from these accusations that 
the men of the " Valleys" held substantially what the apostles before 
their day, and the reformers after, taught. The indictment against 
them included a formidable list of "heresies," among which was Man- 
icheism, but the declaration in the Nobla Leycon that they believe in 
the "perpetual authority of the Decalogue" was a sufficient refuta- 
tion of the charge. They affirmed that there had not been a true 
pope since the days of Sylvester ; that ministers of the Gospel should 
not accept temporal offices and dignities; that the pardons bestowed 
by the pope were a sham ; that purgatory was a fable ; that relics 
were simply rotten bones which had belonged to some unknown per- 
son ; that pilgrimages accomplished only one result — the emptying of 
the purse; that flesh might be eaten any day if the appetite demanded 
it ; that holy water was not any more efficacious than rain water ; 
and that prayer in a barn was as effectual as if offered in a church. 
The Romanists also accused the Vaudois of having scoffed at the 
doctrine of transubstantiation, and of having spoken blasphemously 
of Rome as the "harlot" of the Apocalypse. The Jesuit Reynerius, 
who wrote A. D. 1250, charged upon them numerous heresies and 
blasphemies, which the historian Allix has published. 

It appears from recent historical researches that the Waldenses 
possessed the New Testament in the vernacular. The ^'Lingua 
Romana,'" or Romaunt tongue, was the common language of the 
south of Europe from the eighth to the fourteenth century. During 
the Dark Ages the troubadours and men of letters used it, and into 
it the first translation of the whole of the New Testament was made 
so early as the twelfth century. Dr. Gilly, in his work, ''TJie 
Romaunt Version of the Gospel according to JoJm,'' has diligently labored 
to establish this fact. By a patient investigation into all the evidence, 
and a great array of historic documents, he reached the following 
conclusions: That all the books of the New Testament were trans- 
lated from the Latin Vulgate into the Romaunt; that this was the 
first literal version since the fall of the empire; that it was made in 
the twelfth century, and was the first translation available for popular 
use. There were numerous earlier translations, but only of parts of 
the Bible, and many of these were rather paraphrases or digests of 
Scripture than translations, and on account of their bulk and cost 



THE WALDENSIAN SYNODS AND CLERGY. 129 

were entirely beyond the reach of the common people. This Romaunt 
version was the first complete and literal translation of the New 
Testament of Holy Scripture. Dr. Gilly shows, by a chain of proofs, 
that it was probably made under the superintendence and at the 
expense of Peter Waldo, of Lyons, not later than A. D. 11 80, and 
is, therefore, older than any complete version in German, French, 
Italian, Spanish, or English. It was widely circulated in the south 
of France and in the cities of Lombardy, and was also in general use 
among the Waldenses of Piedmont. Its preservation and dissemina- 
tion by these mountaineers was no insignificant part of the testimony 
which they gave in behalf of the truth. Only six copies of the 
Romaunt New Testament now remain, one at each of the four fol- 
lowing places: Lyons, Grenoble, Zurich, and Dublin; and two copies 
at Paris. These volumes are small, plain, and portable, contrasting 
with those magnificent and ponderous folios of the Latin Vulgate, 
written in gold and silver characters, richly illuminated, and having 
bindings decorated with gems. But their splendor and size awakened 
admiration rather than a desire for study, and prevented them from 
being used by the people. 

In the simplicity of its constitution the Church of the Alps may 
be considered a reflection of the Church of the first centuries. The 
entire Waldensian territory was divided into parishes, in each of 
which was placed a pastor who watched over his flock, preaching, 
dispensing the sacraments, visiting the sick, and catechising the 
young. A consistory of laymen was associated with him in the gov- 
ernment of his congregation. The synod, which met once a year, was 
composed of all the pastors with an equal number of laymen, and its 
most frequent place of meeting was the secluded, mountain-engirdled 
valley at the head of Angrogna. Sometimes as many as a hundred 
and fifty barbes, with the same number of laymen, would assemble. 
In imagination we behold them seated — it may be on the grassy slope 
of the valley — a venerable company of humble, learned, and earnest 
men, presided over by a simple moderator. While deliberating con- 
cerning the affairs of their Churches and the condition of their flocks, 
they did not neglect to offer their praises and prayers to the living 
God, in whom they trusted for wisdom. Their assembly was solemn 
and imposing without the pageantry of mystic rites, and, though no 
magnificent fane towered above them, the majestic snow-clad peaks 
rose up in the silent firmament with a grandeur that no human arch- 
itecture can prpduce. 

The Bible was the text-book used by these young men who 



1 30 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

received instruction from the more venerable and learned of their 
barbcs. They not only studied the sacred volume, but they were 
required to commit to memory and be able accurately to recite whole 
Gospels and epistles. This accomplishment was almost indispensable 
to public instructors in those days when printing was unknown and 
copies of the Bible were rare. They devoted a part of their time to 
the work of transcribing the Holy Scriptures, or portions of them 
which they were to distribute when they went forth as missionaries. 
Through this and other agencies the seed of divine truth was scat- 
tered more widely throughout Europe than is commonly supposed. 
This result was produced by a variety of causes. At that time a 
general impression prevailed that the world would soon end. Disor- 
der reigned in almost every nation, and many men believed that the 
signs of the times indicated the speedy termination of earthly things. 
In view of the luxury, pride, and profligacy of the clergy, not a few 
laymen asked whether more competent spiritual guides could not be 
obtained. Many of the troubadours were religious men who wandered 
from country to country, singing lays which were often sermons in 
poetry. The hour of deep and universal slumber had passed away, 
and a period of unusual activity was inaugurated. The serf was 
demanding personal freedom from his seigneur, and the city waged 
war with the baronial castle for civic and corporate independence. 
The appearance of the New Testament, and, as we learn from inci- 
dental notices, portions of the Old, in a language which was under- 
stood alike in the court as in the camp, in the city as in the rural 
hamlet, was opportune, having received a cordial welcome from many 
at that period. Indeed, the truths of the Bible were more widely 
promulgated then than they had been at any time since the publica- 
tion of the Vulgate by Jerome. 

The Waldensian youth, after remaining a certain time in the 
school of the barbes, usually went to the seminaries in the great cities 
of Lombardy, or to the Sorbonne at' Paris, where they became 
acquainted with other customs, were initiated into other studies and 
enjoyed a wider horizon of observation than they did in the seclusion 
of their native valleys. Many of them became expert dialecticians, 
whom the priests of Rome did not desire to meet in argument. These 
Waldensian missionaries often made converts of the rich merchants 
with whom they traded, and the landlords in whose houses they 
lodged. The Vaudois were not satisfied with merely maintaining the 
truth in their own mountains, but realized their responsibility to 
spread the Gospel abroad and reconquer the kingdoms of Christen- 



THE VENDERS OF RARE GEMS. 13 1 

dom, which the Romish hierarchy had overwhelmed with moral 
darkness. The Waldensian Church was not only evangelical, but 
evangelistic. Among its old laws was one which required that all 
who took orders in the Church should serve three years in the mission 
field before they could be eligible to a home charge. It was not 
necessary for them to cross oceans in order to perform mission work. 
The extensive region at the foot of their own mountains afforded the 
Vaudois youth, upon whose heads the assembled barbes had laid their 
hands, an important field, which would bestow upon them not a rich 
benefice, but a possible martyrdom. By assuming the guise of a 
secular profession, most commonly that of merchants or peddlers, they 
concealed their real character. Going forth two and two they carried 
silks, jewelry, and other articles which at that time could not be 
easily purchased, except at distant marts, and they were welcomed 
as merchants where they would have been rejected as missionaries. 
The door of the cottage and the portal of the baron's castle stood 
equally open to them. The gems and silks procured them entrance, 
but they were also venders of rarer and more valuable merchandise — 
portions of the Word of God — usually their own transcription, which 
they carried with them carefully concealed among their wares or 
about their persons. While displaying their goods to the inmates of 
the dwelling they would also direct attention to the manuscripts, and 
donate them when desired to those who were unable to purchase. 
Thus the truth was disseminated by these humble instrumentalities, 
and struggling Italy received more light. 

10 



f^krt III. 

PAPAL DARKNESS RELIEVED. 

CENTURY XIV-XIX. 



Chapter L 

ITALY DURING THE PAPAL SCHISM. 

THE fourteenth century dawned upon Italy, revealing the exist- 
ence of small tyrannies, established upon the ruins of republican 
government. The cities of Lombardy, both Guelf and Ghibeline, by 
force or stratagem, or free consent, had, with few exceptions, fallen 
under the yoke of some prominent citizen, who became the lord (sign- 
iore), or, in the Grecian sense, tyrant, of his country. The career of 
Eccelino beyond the Adige should have naturally inspired the Italians 
with more universal abhorrence of despotism; but in the eyes of 
exasperated factions every danger seemed trivial when compared with, 
the ascendancy of their enemies. The conflicts between these adver- 
saries were constant and unprofitable, inflicting alternately disaster 
upon either party, until liberty, wearied and disgusted, withdrew from 
a people who disgraced her name. Strange as it may appear, the 
brave, tumultuous, and intractable Lombards w^ere anxious to sub- 
mit themselves to a master, and became patient under the heaviest 
oppression. Sometimes tyranny passed beyond the limits of forbear- 
ance, and the reigning prince was expelled by seditious parties ; but 
the revolution simply placed the impotent people under a different 
and perhaps worse despotism. "In many cities," says Hallam, *'not 
a conspiracy was planned, not a sigh was breathed in favor of repub- 
lican government, after once they had passed under the sway of a 
single person. The progress, indeed, was gradual though sure, from 
limited to absolute, from temporary to hereditary power, from a just 
and conciliating rule, to extortion and cruelty." Before the middle 
of the fourteenth century, all those cities which had indignantly 
132 



ROBERT, KING OF A^APLES— NICOLA DI RIENZI 133 

rejected the invitation to submit to imperial rule lost even the recol- 
lection of self-government, and were bequeathed, like an indisputable 
patrimony, among the children of their new lords. 

Though divided into several hostile factions, the victorious popu- 
lar party in the Italian cities was able to frustrate the efforts of the 
German emperor, Henry VII, who, A. D. 13 12, attempted to regain 
the dominion of Italy. Robert, king of Naples, was more successful. 
Like his grandfather, Charles I, he almost openly aspired to a real 
sovereignty over Italy. When the Guelf cities were engaged in war 
he offered his assistance upon the condition that they should submit 
to his rule. Many yielded to his demands, and even Florence twice 
bestowed upon him a temporary dictatorship. He was (A. D. 13 14) 
acknowledged lord of Lucca, Florence, Pavia, Alessandria, Bergamo, 
and the cities of Romagna. The Guelfs of Genoa, A. D. 13 18, being 
unable to overcome the Ghibeline emigrants, who were under their 
walls, resigned their liberties to the king of Naples for the term of 
ten years, which was afterwards extended six more. All these ambi- 
tious measures were sanctioned by the Avignon popes, especially John 
XXII, who entertained the most bitter hatred to the Emperor Louis 
of Bavaria, and the Visconti family. But the death of Robert, and 
the disturbances in his kingdom, rendered these measures unsuccessful. 

After the secession of the popes to Avignon (A. D. 1308), Rome, 
their own city, was far more demoralized than before. Disorders of 
every kind, tumult and robbery prevailed in the streets. The Roman 
nobility were engaged in perpetual war with each other. They were 
not satisfied with their own fortified palaces, but converted the sacred 
monuments of antiquity into strongholds, causing greater destruction 
than time or conquest had ever done. At no period had the city re- 
ceived such irreparable injuries. Indeed, the contemptible feuds of 
the Orsini and Colonna families were more disastrous to the capital 
than the downfall of the Western Empire. Government existed only 
in form, and whether administered by a legate from Avignon, or by 
the municipal authorities, did not restrain these powerful barons. In 
the midst of this degradation and wretchedness (A. D. 1347) Nicola 
di Rienzi, an obscure man, resolved that he would restore good order 
to Rome, and render her great as in ancient times. His education 
was advanced for one of such humble birth, and his mind was enriched 
with the study of the best writers. He harangued the people on 
many public occasions; but the nobility, blinded by self-confidence, 
made no effort to repress the excitement which prevailed. An insur- 
rection suddenly broke out, and soon obtained complete success. 



134 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Under the title of tribune, Rienzi was placed at the head of a new 
government, and had almost unlimited power. The first effects of 
this revolution were wonderful. All the nobles submitted, though 
with great reluctance; robbers no longer infested the roads; tranquil- 
lity was restored at home, and by severe examples of justice, offend- 
ers were intimidated. Indeed, all the people regarded the tribune as 
the destined restorer of Rome and Italy. 

The court of Avignon could not indorse this usurpation, but it was 
wise enough not directly to oppose it. Most of the Italian republics, 
and some of the prince^, sent embassadors and recognized the pre- 
tensions of the ostentatious Rienzi. The king of Hungary and queen 
of Naples submitted their quarrel to his arbitration, but he did not 
undertake to decide it. He was intoxicated by his sudden exaltation, 
and exhibited weaknesses which were entirely incompatible with his 
elevated station. Rienzi possessed really great talents, and, if he had 
lived in our own age, they would have found their proper orbit. His 
character, as described by Sismondi, Tiraboschi, Petrarch, and other 
writers, was that of a literary politician — "a combination of knowl- 
edge, eloquence, and enthusiasm for ideal excellence, with vanity, 
inexperience of mankind, unsteadiness, and physical timidity." These 
latter qualities became so conspicuous that his virtues were overlooked 
and his benefits forgotten. He was finally compelled to abdicate his 
government and retire into exile. After an absence of several years, 
some of which he passed in the prisons of Avignon, he was brought 
back to Rome with the title of senator, and under the command of 
the legate. The Romans, still cherishing some of the spirit of insub- 
ordination, gladly welcomed their favorite tribune, and rallied around 
his standard for a few months ; but after that time they ceased alto- 
gether to respect a man who so little respected himself in accepting 
a station where he could no longer be free. During a sedition in the 
city he was killed. 

It is difficult to form a correct opinion of Rienzi's history. That 
o-reat Italian writer, Petrarch, was so blindly infatuated with the 
romantic life of his hero that he indulged in the most glowing pane- 
gyrics concerning him, Hallam regards some of these enthusiastic 
utterances as extravagant and absurd, and commends the sensible and 
proper estimate of Rienzi given by Giovanni Villani, of Florence, a 
strong republican. An illustrious female author, Madame de Stael, 
of France, in her ''Corinne," an Italian novel, by a single stroke has 
portrayed the character of Rienzi, Crescentius, and Arnold of Brescia, 
the fond restorers of Roman liberty: '^Qui out pris Ics souvenirs pour 



THE BANNERETS. 1 35 

Ics esp^ranccs.'' Not long after the death of Rienzi, the freedom of 
Rome appears to have revived in repubHcan institutions, though the 
names associated with the movement are not calculated to inspire 
peculiar recollections. At the head of the commonwealth, magis- 
trates called bannerets were placed. They were chosen from the thir- 
teen districts of the city, with a militia of three thousand citizens at 
their command. This new organization was instituted to intimidate 
the Roman nobility, who, in the total absence of government, had 
committed intolerable outrages. The execution of several of them the 
first year, by order of the bannerets, produced a good effect. The 
citizens, however, entertained no serious thoughts of renouncing their 
allegiance to the popes, but simply provided for their own safety. 
It seems strange that they should be obedient to pontiffs who, after 
abandoning the holy city, continued to demand their support, though 
denying them protection. But they were ready to acknowledge and 
welcome back their bishop as their sovereign. Without waiting for 
their return, they surrendered their republican constitution, and per- 
mitted the legate of Innocent VI to assume the government. Some 
years afterward the institution of bannerets was revived and possessed 
full authority. During the schism of the Church, Rome probably 
enjoyed some degree of political freedom ; but its internal history is so 
obscure that it is difficult to ascertain, amid the licentious tumults 
of the barons or populace, when their privileges were legitimate. 
The Romans formally took away the government from Eugenius IV, 
and elected seven seigniors, or chief magistrates, like the priors of 
Florence. But this revolution was only temporary. On the death 
of Eugenius the citizens deliberated upon proposing a charter to the 
future pope. One of their principal instigators was a man of good 
family, named Stephen Porcaro, who was animated by a strong spirit 
of liberty. The people, however, were not equally patriotic, and 
nothing was accomplished. Afterward Porcaro was engaged in a 
fresh conspiracy, and, having been detected, was put to death under 
the pontificate of Nicholas V. 

The Romans attributed all their troubles to the absence of the 
popes from the " Eternal City. " This was no doubt the cause of 
their pecuniary embarrassments, for the presence of the pontiffs there 
attracted crowds of strangers from all parts of Europe, and the 
expenditures of these visitors, and of the papal court, were a source 
of considerable wealth to the citizens. Hence they exerted them- 
selves to the fullest extent to persuade the popes to return to their 
city. Finally Gregory XI returned to Rome, A. D. 1377, and it 



136 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

once more became the religious center of the world. Gregory died 
the next year, and the Romans took up arms to compel the cardi- 
nals to conduct the election for his successor at Rome, and choose an 
Italian pope, or, at least, one who would remain in Rome. They 
even invaded the hall where the conclave had assembled, shouting, 
"A Roman pope! We will have a Roman pope!" Though per- 
suaded to retire, they crowded the streets for two days and threatened 
the cardinals with death if they refused to comply with their demands. 
In the midst of these exciting scenes, the trembling cardinals elected 
the archbishop of Bari, an Italian, to the papal throne. At this very 
moment, the mob, still shouting their demands, made a fierce attack 
upon the hall and were determined to handle the cardinals violently. 
The frightened ecclesiastics induced the venerable cardinal of St. Pe- 
ter's to appear as the newly chosen pontiff. He presented himself at 
the window "hastily attired in what either was or seemed to be 
the papal stole and miter. There was a jubilant and triumphant cry, 
' We have a Roman pope ! the cardinal of St. Peter's. Long live 
Rome ! Long live St. Peter!' " The mob, now wild with joy, could 
not be restrained, but burst into the hall. **The supposed pope 
was seized by his enthusiastic friends, his gouty and swollen hands 
and feet were pressed and kissed with such fervor that he shrieked 
with pain, and swore to them in very emphatic language that he was 
not the pope." 

The archbishop of Bari was hastily proclaimed, and commenced 
to reign under the title of Urban VI. He was a violent and savage 
man, and, though he sought to reform the abuses of the Church, he 
did so by the severest measures. He seemed utterly incapable of 
conciliating the affections of his opponents, or even of retaining his 
particular adherents. By his intolerable arrogance and harshness he 
soon raised up a formidable opposition to him among people of all 
ranks, and especially among the leading French cardinals. The latter, 
unable to endure his insolence, withdrew from Rome to Anagni, and 
thence to Fondi, a city of the kingdom of Naples, where they elected 
to the pontificate Robert, count of Geneva, who took the name of 
Clement VII. The seceding cardinals declared that the election of 
Bartholomew de Pregnano, archbishop of Bari, was a mere ceremony, 
which they had been compelled to perform in order to calm the tur- 
bulent rage of the populace. Urban remained at Rome, and Clement 
retired to Avignon, in France. All the prominent kingdoms, except 
France and Naples, supported Urban. 

The union of the Latin Church under one head was destroyed at 



DANTE, 137 

the death of Gregory XI, and was followed by that deplorable dis- 
sension commonly known by the name of the great Western schism. 
Upon the death of Urban, A. D. 1389, the Italian cardinals pro- 
ceeded to the election of Boniface IX, a Neapolitan ; and Clement 
VII dying, A. D, 1394, the French cardinals raised to the papal 
throne a Spaniard, who assumed the name of Benedict XIII. 



Chapter II. 

THE REVIVAL OF LETTERS IN ITALY. 

AS the three centuries preceding the fourteenth witnessed a rapid 
revival and growth of architecture and the arts in Italy, so the 
close of the thirteenth and the whole of the fourteenth century saw 
the sudden blossoming of Italian literature. Dante (Alighieri), the 
greatest of Italian poets, rose like a sun, and shone on his native 
land with an unparalleled splendor, imparting to it a new life. He 
was born of a respectable family at Florence, A. D. 1265, but his 
writings belong almost exclusively to the fourteenth century. At- 
tached to the Guelf party, which had then obtained a final ascendancy 
over its rival, he might justly promise himself the natural reward of 
talents under a free government — public trust, and the esteem of his 
compatriots. But the unhappy division of the Guelfs into the 
Bianchi and Neri factions was unfortunate for Dante, as he was con- 
nected with the former, which proved to be the unsuccessful one. 
He filled the office of one of the priori, or chief magistrates, at 
Florence, A. D. 1300; and having manifested in this, as was alleged, 
some partiality toward the Bianchi, a sentence of proscription passed 
against him about two years afterward, when it became the turn of 
the opposite faction to triumph. Banished from his country, and 
baffled in several efforts of his friends to restore their fortunes, he 
had no resource but at the courts of the Scalas at Verona and other 
Italian princes, attaching himself in adversity to the imperial interests, 
and "tasting, in his own language, the bitterness of another's bread." 
While in this state of exile he finished, if he did not commence, 
his great poem, the ''Divina Commedia," or the Divine Comedy, a 
representation of the three kingdoms of futurity, hell, purgatory, and 
paradise. This masterpiece, incomparably the greatest of Italian 
epics, is divided into one hundred cantos, and contains about four- 



1 3 8 ITAL Y STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

teen thousand lines. It was so called because he conceived that there 
were three kinds of style — the sublime, the middle, or comic, and 
the lowest of all, which he designated the elegiac ; and he selected 
the second of these for his poem. Even in this finest product of his 
genius he supported the emperor and the Ghibeline party against 
their enemies, the Guelfs. He depicted an inferno, in which were 
placed those petty tyrants and chieftains who had filled Italy with 
the horrors of civil war. He described a purgatory, in which those 
men were punished who with too little heroism and firmness had 
maintained the cause of justice and their country. He finally pic- 
tured a paradise, in which those were rewarded who had devoted 
themselves only to virtue, and had labored for the commonwealth 
with strong hearts and magnanimous deeds. There he imagined a 
throne to be raised, and a crown upon it, as a reward for that Henry 
who he hoped would restore Italy to her ancient power and splendor. 
This political aim of the " Divina Commedia" was only incidental to 
its moral and religious meanings. The work displays an immense 
amount of theological as well as philosophical and historical knowl- 
edge, and contains some ingenious scientific views, which were fully 
developed and understood only after several centuries. It is for these 
that Redi, Magalotti, and other scientific writers quoted from him in 
preference to any other poet. To every succeeding age the poem 
has been a mine of elegant quotations; and in some of the descrip- 
tions the reader feels transported by the force and solemnity of the 
phrases, as if it were the work of a prophet. 

The unfinished " Convito " of Dante is called by Monti the first 
sober and sound prose writing that Italian literature can boast, and 
the first on moral philosophy. He abandoned the Latin language, 
in which he had begun to write, for the Italian, which he raised from 
comparative rudeness to the highest refinement, believing that its 
perfection and embellishment would be of great advantage toward 
uniting Italy. In his Latin treatise, '*De Vulgaro Eloquio, " he 
maintained that no one of the Italian dialects merited the name of 
the Italian language, which was spoken in all the cities, without 
belonging to any one in particular. Dante is among the very 
few who have created the national poetry of their country. For, 
notwithstanding the polished elegance of some earlier Italian verse, 
it had been confined to amorous sentiments ; and it was yet to be 
seen that the language could sustain, for a greater length than any 
existing poem except the ** Iliad," the varied style of narration, 
reasoning, and ornament. "Of all writers," says Hallam," he is 



THE POETR V OF DANTE. 1 39 

the most unquestionably original. Virgil was, indeed, his inspiring 
genius, as he declares himself, and as may sometimes be perceived in 
his diction ; but his tone is so peculiar and characteristic that few 
readers would be willing at first to acknowledge any resemblance. 
He possessed in an extraordinary degree a command of language, 
the abuse of which led to his obscurity and licentious innovations. 
No poet ever excelled him in conciseness and in the rare talent of 
finishing his pictures by a few bold touches ; the merit of Pindar in 
his better hours. How prolix would the stories of Francesca or of 
Ugolino have become in the hands of Ariosto, or of Tasso, or of 
Ovid, or of Spenser!" 

In the first part of the " Divina Commedia " this excellence is 
strikingly exhibited. Dante, after forming his plan so as to give an 
equal length to the three regions of his spiritual world, found him- 
self unable to vary the images of hope or beatitude, and the ' ' Para- 
dise" is a continual accumulation of descriptions, separately beauti- 
ful, but uniform and tedious. While images derived from light and 
music are the most pleasing, and enjoyed longer in poetry than any 
others, yet their frequent repetition detracts from their sweetness, and 
makes the intermixture of sharper flavors desirable. In this third 
part of Dante's poem there are detached passages of great merit; and 
even in the long, theological discussions, which occupy the larger pro- 
portion of its thirty- three cantos, it is impossible not to admire the 
enunciation of abstract positions with remarkable energy, concise- 
ness, and sometimes perspicuity. The first twelve cantos of the 
"Purgatory" are an almost continual flow of soft and brilliant 
poetry. The last seven are also very splendid ; but there is some 
heaviness in the intermediate parts. Fame has justly given the pref- 
erence to the ''Inferno," which displays throughout a more vigorous 
and masterly conception ; but the mind of Dante can not be thor- 
oughly appreciated without a perusal of his entire poem. 

While he was so peculiarly happy in his power of expression, he 
sometimes introduced coarse idioms, and employed a word to com- 
plete his measure or his rhyme, even when the sense of the passage 
did not warrant it. Indeed, as a writer, Dante had many faults ; but 
he composed his poem in the infancy of a language which he assisted 
in creating, and therefore could not know that words, which he bor- 
rowed from the Latin and from the provincial dialects, would by 
accident, or through the timidity of later writers, lose their place in 
the classical idiom of Italy. The phrases which now appear bar- 
barous, and are at least obsolete, might have been fixed by use in 



I40 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

poetical language if Petrarch, Bembo, and a few more, had not aimed 
at purity rather than copiousness. 

Elevation of sentiment is the characteristic feature of this great 
poem, and its compressed diction and the emphatic cadences of its 
measure contribute largely to that result. The reader does not find 
in Dante the amusing poet, but rather the master of moral wisdom, 
who inspires the mind with reverence and awe. He studied closely 
and seriously the truths of philosophy, and, learning in the severer 
school of experience, made his poem a mirror of his heart and hfe, 
the register of his solicitudes and sorrows, and of the speculations in 
which he sought to escape their recollection. The banished magis- 
trate of Florence, the disciple of Brunetto Latini, and the statesman 
accustomed to trace the varying fluctuations of Italian faction, 
always appears to the reader. While a prodigal display of erudition 
seems inappropriate in an epic poem, yet in the **Divina Commedia" 
it is not objectionable. Except Milton, he was much the most learned 
of all the great poets, and, relatively to his age, far more learned 
than Milton. How sad that one so highly endowed by nature, and 
profound through instruction, should be filled with a resentment 
which exile and poverty rendered perpetually fresh. His heart was 
naturally sensitive, and even tender ; his poetry abounds with simple 
comparisons from rural life, and the sincerity of his early passion for 
Beatrice pierces through the veil of allegory which surrounds her. 
**But the memory of his injuries," says Hallam, ''pursues him into 
the immensity of eternal light; and in the company of saints and 
angels his unforgiving spirit darkens at the name of Florence." 

Dante's wonderful production was received in Italy with that 
enthusiastic admiration which works of genius awaken in an age too 
rude to listen to the envy of competitors or the fastidiousness of 
critics. Almost every library in that country contains manuscript 
copies of the ''Divine Comedy," and an account of those who 
have abridged or commented upon it would swell to a volume. It 
was thrice printed A. D. 1472, and at least nine times within the 
fifteenth century. The city of Florence, A. D. 1373, with a magna- 
nimity which almost redeems her original injustice, appointed a 
public professor to read lectures upon Dante ; and it was hardly less 
honorable to the poet's memory that the first person selected for this 
office was Boccaccio. The universities of Pisa and Piacenza imitated 
this example ; but, according to Tiraboschi, Dante's abstruse philos- 
ophy was often more regarded in their chairs than his higher excel- 
lences. Italy, indeed, and Europe had reason to be proud of such 



DANTE DENOUNCES THE PAPACY. 141 

a master. Since Claudian there had been seen for nine hundred 
years no considerable body of poetry, except the Spanish poem of 
the "Cid," of which no one had heard beyond the Peninsula, that 
could be said to pass mediocrity; and we must go much farther back 
than Claudian to find any one capable of being compared with Dante. 
His appearance made an epoch in the intellectual history of modern 
nations, and dissipated the discouraging suspicion, which long ages 
of lethargy tended to excite, that nature had exhausted her fertility 
in the great poets of Greece and Rome, **It was," says Hallam, 
**as if, at some of the ancient games, a stranger had appeared upon 
the plain, and thrown his quoit among the marks of former casts, 
which tradition had ascribed to the demigods." The admiration of 
Dante gave a general impulse to the human mind, and inaugurated 
that ** revival of letters " which prepared the way for the Reformation. 

The " Divina Commedia" abounds with complaints of the corrup- 
tions of the Roman Church, and Dante, with his great mind sur- 
charged with the truths of the Bible, denounced the papacy, foretelling 
retributions, and, like Daniel and St. John, picturing the doom of 
anti-Christ. He was one of those poets in whom the vates and rhap- 
sodist co-exist, and transfusing himself into the heart of Italy, from 
which the Bible was shut out, he became the leaven that leavened 
the whole lump, and finally created, in the nineteenth century, a 
united Italy. In his ''Monarchia" he pleads, indeed, for a Utopian 
empire, but he does so under the idea that by gathering all nations 
under a single imperial scepter, the clashing interests of petty king- 
doms would be removed, and the rise and perils of wars be obviated. 
Co-existing with this monarchy, which was to be an embodiment of 
the reign of the "Prince of Peace," Dante desired to see a universal 
Church, united, indeed, under one chief, who must be thoroughly 
spiritual, working in harmony wdth human government, and never 
advancing beyond that limitation of Christ, ''Render unto Caesar 
the things that are Caesar's." Deep in the midnight of the papal 
despotism, and long before the cock-crowing was heard from the little 
hamlet of Lutterworth, in England, Dante struck the key-note of his 
immortal song in the following words: ''The Church of Rome, 
mixing two govenimejits that ill assort, hath missed her footing, fallen 
into the mire, and there herself and burden much defiled." 

The poet appears to have had no faith in the infallibility of either 
popes or general councils. While he freely bestows the keys on St. 
Peter, and speaks honorably of his early successors, he expresses 
himself doubtfully, in the second chapter of the "Inferno," concerning 




DANTE. 



PAPAL CORRUPTIONS EXPOSED. 1 43 

Rome's claim to be the mistress of Christendom. By his advice, 
''Think on what succeeds," he did not encourage those who went into 
purgatory, and reminded them that no power on earth could avail 
them but what "riseth up from heart which lives in grace." In the 
twenty-seventh chapter of the ''Inferno" he reduces priestly absolu- 
tion to a conditional declaration of pardon, asserting that "no power 
can the impenitent absolve ;" and in the twenty-fourth chapter of the 
"Paradiso" he describes an imaginary interview between himself and 
St. Peter, in which, at the request of the latter, he makes a confess- 
ion of his faith. When asked by the apostle from what source he 
derived his faith, he answers : ' ' From that truth it cometh to me 
rather, which is shed through Moses, the rapt prophets, and the 
Psalms, the Gospel ; and what ye yourselves did write, when ye were 
gifted of the Holy Ghost.", When asked how he knew these to be 
the Word of God, he does not reply by appealing to the authority 
of the Church or tradition ; he says, "The works that follow evidence 
their truth." He then proceeds to consider the early triumphs of 
Christianity as proofs of its divine character, and says to St. Peter : 
"E'en thou wentest forth in poverty and hunger to set the goodly 
plant, that from the vine it once was is grown unsightly bramble." 
It is impossible to pronounce a clearer and more decisive judgment 
on one of the most prominent and important points of controversy 
between Protestantism and Romanism than Dante has given in this 
part of his poem. 

In the "Divine Comedy" a simple adherence to the Bible, in 
opposition to the human inventions and fables, then so prevalent, is 
repeatedly inculculated. "E'en they," says the poet, "whose office 
is to preach the Gospel let the Gospel sleep, and pass their own inven- 
tions off instead." After having given some specimens of this, he 
adds : ' ' The sheep meanwhile, poor, witless ones, return from pas- 
ture fed with wind ; and what avails for their excuse, they do not see 
their harm?" Dante has strikingly exhibited, in his pictorial style, 
the indecent buffoonery which disgraced the pulpit in that age ; and 
he treated the credulity of the people with almost as much severity 
as the impudence and imposture of the priests and friars. He cele- 
brated the virtues of St. Francis and St. Dominic, but pronounced a 
severe censure on the degeneracy of their respective orders. He 
is warm in his praises of the Virgin, but puts them into the 
mouth of St. Bernard, the great opponent of those who ascribed to 
her the honors due to Christ. His Jiell, as well as his purgatory, are 
peopled with Romish clergy, from popes down to mendicant friars. 



144 ^^^^ ^ STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

He did not hesitate to compare modern Rome to the idolatrous 
Babylon of the Apocalypse. In describing the avarice and luxurious 
living of the priests he sometimes seemed to be at a loss whether to 
employ the language of ridicule or of indignation ; but in the twenty- 
first chapter of the *'Paradiso" he combined them in a passage, 
which he imagined to be the utterance of a cardinal, who, by a rare 
fate, had escaped both purgatory and hell. These were not the mere 
effusions of poetical exaggeration, but the honest declarations of a 
noble spirit who was deeply impressed with the corruptions of the 
Romish Church, of which he was a member. In his ''Monarchia" he 
is even more severe on the abuses of the Church than in his poems ; 
and that treatise, which so boldly assailed tradition, the main pillar on 
which the papacy rests its claims to spiritual authority, has a place 
in the ''Index Prohibitorius " of Rome, A. D. 1559. The influence 
of Dante upon the religious, intellectual, and political destiny of Italy 
can not be estimated. He conceived a poem which is admitted to 
be one of the finest creations of the human mind, charmed a people 
yet groping in ignorance and barbarism by the sweetness, beauty, 
and grandeur of his delineations, compelling them to listen to the 
dictates of morality and Christianity, and also proclaimed the prin- 
ciples which alone could deliver his country from the desolation of 
civil wars. He closed his earthly career at Ravenna, A. D. 1321. 

In the same year that Dante was expelled from Florence a 
notary, named Petracco, was involved in a similar banishment. 
Retiring to Arezzo, he there became the father of Francis Petrarch, 
who was born A. D. 1304. This great man shared, of course, during 
his early years, in the adverse fortunes of his family, which he was 
reluctant to restore, according to his father's wish, by the profession 
of jurisprudence. He was strongly inclined by nature to polite letters 
and poetry. These are seldom the fountains of wealth ; yet they 
would, perhaps, have been to Petrarch a source of revenue, if his 
temper could have borne the sacrifice of liberty for any worldly 
acquisitions. At the city of Avignon, where his parents had latterly 
resided, his graceful appearance and the reputation of his talents 
attracted one of the Colonna family, then bishop of Lombes, in Gas- 
cony. In him, and in other members of that great house, never so 
illustrious as in the fourteenth century, he experienced the union of 
patronage and friendship. This, however, was not confined to the 
Colonnas. Unlike Dante, no poet was ever so liberally and sincerely 
encouraged by the great. This social atmosphere had its perils, but 
Petrarch was independent, and, to a considerable extent, free from 



PETRAR CH RECEIVES PAPAL FA VORS. 1 45 

interested adulation. He praised his friends lavishly because he 
loved them ardently ; but he was easily offended, and possessed much 
of that restlessness and jealousy of reputation which is, perhaps, the 
inevitable failing of a poet. In a letter to Boccaccio he detracts 
from the merit of some writer whose popularity had evidently filled 
him with envy. It was believed by many that he refers to Dante, 
but others assert that Zanobi Strata, a contemporary Florentine poet, 
was meant ; but whichever was intended, the letter shows the irritable 
humor of Petrarch. Yet, in his writings he declares that envy did 
not rule him. But no matter how prominent his faults, they were 
overlooked in a man who was the acknowledged boast of his age 
and country. 

Clement VI conferred one or two sinecure benefices upon Pe- 
trarch, and would probably have raised him to a bishopric if he had 
chosen to adopt the clerical profession. But he never took orders, 
his ecclesiastical tonsure being a sufficient qualification for holding 
canonries. The same pontiff even afforded him the post of apos- 
tolical secretary, and this was repeated by Innocent VI. It was 
either magnanimity or policy that caused Clement VI to favor the 
poet, because the latter made the residence of the popes at Avignon 
and the vices of their court the topic of invectives too well founded 
to be despised. A letter written by him, and dropped in the con- 
sistory at Rome, was read in the presence of Clement VI and his 
whole court. It was inscribed, "Leviathan, prince of darkness, to 
Pope Clement, his vicar and the cardinals, his counselors and good 
friends;" contained an enumeration of the crimes committed by the 
prelates of the courts, for which he expressed his thanks, exhorting 
them to continue in the same course, by which they would merit 
more and more his favor ; and concluded with these words : * ' Given 
at the center of Hell, in the presence of a crowd of demons." In his 
confidential letters Petrarch seems at a loss for words to express his 
detestation of the sins of the papal court. **I am at present," says 
he to a friend, "in the western Babylon, than which the sun never 
beheld any thing more hideous, and beside the fierce Rhone, where 
the successors of the poor fishermen now live as kings. Here the 
credulous crowd of Christians are caught in the name of Jesus, but 
by the arts of Belial, and being stripped of their scales are fried to 
fill the belly of gluttons. Go to India, or wherever you choose, but 
avoid Babylon if you do not wish to go down alive to hell. What- 
ever you have heard or read of as to perfidy and fraud, pride, inconti- 
nence, and unbridled lust, impiety and wickedness of ever}- kind. 



146 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

you will find here collected and heaped together. Rejoice and glory 
in this, O Babylon, situated on the Rhone, that thou art the enemy 
of the good, the friend of the bad, the asylum of wild beasts, the 
whore that hast committed fornication with the kings of the earth ! 
Thou art she whom the inspired evangelist saw in the Spirit ; yes, 
thee and none but thee, he saAV, 'sitting upon many waters.' See 
thy dress — *a woman clothed in purple and scarlet.' Dost thou 
know thyself, Babylon? Certainly, what follows agrees to thee and 
none else — 'Mother of fornications and abominations of the earth.' 
But hear the rest, 'I saw,' says the evangelist, *a woman drunk with 
the blood of the saints, and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.' 
Point out another to whom this is applicable but thee." 

In this strain Petrarch continues his comment on the description 
of the apocalyptic Babylon, and inveighs against the monstrous vices, 
heresies, and false miracles of the papal court. Several of his Latin 
eclogues are concealed satires on the popes and their clergy. In his 
sonnets the satire is avowed, and the ** Holy See " is characterized as 
''impious Babylon," "avaricious Babylon," "the school of error," 
' ' the temple of heresy, " ' ' the forge of fraud, " and ' ' the hell of the liv- 
ing. " The Abbe de Sade, in his copious "Memoirs of Petrarch," 
complains that the Protestants "have in their declamations against 
the Church of Rome abused certain secret letters which the poet 
wrote to his friends, in which he opens his heart with a little too 
much freedom." But the only way in which the Protestants have 
"abused" them is by quoting them, which the abbe has prudently 
avoided amidst his numerous extracts; and when he calls the letters 
"secret" he seems to have forgotten that Petrarch himself had care- 
fully collected them into a volume by themselves, intended for public 
use, as appears from his preface, and his having suppressed the names 
of the persons to whom they were written. The poet, in referring 
to the residence of the papal court at Avignon, in France, where it 
continued during his life-time, sometimes deplores its transference 
from Rome under the name of a captivity. But the chief part of his 
description is borrowed from that of Dante, which preceded that 
event ; and he himself traces the sad change on the face of the Church 
to a much higher period. Petrarch supported the project of Nicola 
di Rienzi, which aimed at the deliverance of the city of Rome from 
the temporal sovereignty of its bishop. Notwithstanding these bold 
utterances against the corruptions of the Church and his support of 
Rienzi, the poet was popular among the most respectable Italian 
princes, who sought his society and friendship. Besides these were 



lAura de sade. 147 

Robert, king of Naples, and Andrew Dandolo, the famous doge of 
Venice, both of whom greatly admired his genius. He was also a 
special favorite among the Visconti, the Correggi of Parma, and the 
Carrara family of Padua, under whose protection he spent the latter 
years of his life. 

But Petrarch's popularity was not confined to the nobility, but 
extended to the humbler classes. A goldsmith of Bergamo, named 
Henry Capra, an enthusiast in literature, earnestly requested the 
honor of a visit from the poet. The house of this good tradesman 
was full of representations of the distinguished writer and of inscrip- 
tions with his name and arms. No expense had been spared in 
copying all his works as they appeared. He was received by Capra 
with a princely magnificence, lodged in an apartment hung with 
purple, and a splendid bed on which no one before or after him was 
permitted to sleep. According to -the Abbe de Sade, who narrated 
this incident, goldsmiths in those days were opulent persons ; yet the 
friends of Petrarch endeavored to dissuade him from this visit as 
derogatory to his own elevated station. 

Some of the events of the poet's life were rather singular, particu- 
larly his devotion to Laura de Sade. He first saw this beautiful 
woman A. D. 1327, after he had fixed his residence at Vaucluse, 
near Avignon, and immediately became infatuated. But though the 
soft passion was expressed in the softest language of poetry, the 
heart of the fair one was by no means moved. To divert the mel- 
ancholy which ensued, he traveled through various countries and was 
at last persuaded to enter into the service of Pope John XXU. But 
Petrarch was unhappy, and abandoning the pleasures of curiosity and 
of greatness fled to the shades of Vaucluse to converse with his 
beloved Laura. He again devoted his hours to studious pursuits 
and to the amatory effusions of his muse. Twenty years of unre- 
quited and almost unaspiring love were hghtened by song, and, 
though the idolized Laura did not heed his poetry, the world did ; 
and Rome, Paris, and Naples, at the same moment, invited him to 
come and receive the poetical crown. - Rome prevailed, and in that 
famed seat of empire and of genius Petrarch's brow was entwined 
with the resplendent honor, A. D. 1341. His solemn coronation as 
poet laureate was the most conspicuous testimony of public esteem 
he had received; but It is a singular fact that, previous to the cere- 
mony, he had not composed any remarkable works entitling him to- 
such distinction. 

He was occasionally drawn from his favorite residence on public 

II 



148 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

business, and it was during an absence, A. D, 1348, that he was 
informed of Laura's death, which affected him with the deepest gloom 
and changed his affection into an intenser feehng, a sort of celestial 
adoration. The poet's purity in this romantic affair has been main- 
tained by some and denied by others, and in the midst of so many 
conflicting opinions it is difficult to determine the question. It is 
generally believed that before the time of his first accidental meeting 
with her, Laura was united in marriage with another, probably 
Hugues de Sade, a fact which, besides some more particular evi- 
dence, appears deducible from the whole tenor of Petrarch's poetry. 
Unquestionably such a passion was not innocent, and can not be 
defended or palliated, though the manners of that age were not of 
the highest moral type. Like other great and good men, the poet 
had an infirmity of character which induced him both to obe}' and to 
justify the emotions of his heart. The lady, too, concerning whose 
virtue and prudence a difference of opinion exists, appears t© have 
tempered the light and shadow of her countenance so as to preserve 
her admirer from despair, and consequently to prolong his sufferings 
and servitude. 

There was combined in the moral character of Petrarch all the 
elements of a great poet, the emotions of love and friendship, of 
glory, of patriotism, and of religion. To these impulses he gave full 
rein, and nearly every page of his writings shows traces of these dis- 
positions or affections. But he possessed a noble delicacy and peculiar 
tenderness of heart, which made him distinctively the poet of love 
and gave the greatest celebrity to his name. As the father of Italian 
lyric he treated all the passions, hopes, and memories of lo\-e. With 
equal power and pathos he lamented the evils of his country and 
preached peace and union. His various lyrical pieces, sonnets, songs, 
and triumphs abound in favorite quotations, and his language was so 
choice that every word employed by him is said to have remained in 
use from that time to the present. In this department he surpassed 
all his predecessors and has been equaled by none of his numerous 
imitators. His name also deserves to be revered by philosophers, 
archaeologists, political orators, and all men who honor and cherish 
learning and patriotism. Both by precept and example he labored 
to deliver his native land from intestine discords and to elevate it to 
a worthier life. His principal philosophical treatises are in Latin. In 
one of them he consoles a friend suffering under calamities ; in another 
he defends a life of solitude for purposes of study, introducing illus- 
trious examples from the ancients and the Fathers of the Church; in 



PETRARCH'S STYLE. 149 

a dialogue on the contempt of the world he makes fine reflections on 
the object of life and the destiny of man ; and in another he ridicules 
the conceit of some young men who, on a visit to him, had taken 
pains to display their skill in disputation. His various Latin treat- 
ises and poems demonstrate his erudition, justness of philosophical 
thought, and exquisite skill in Latin composition. 

Among the general excellences of Petrarch's writings are his 
command over the music of his native language, his correctness of 
style, his elegance of diction, improved by the constant study of 
Virgil, and, far above all, that tone of pure and melancholy sentiment 
which has something in it unearthly, and forms a striking contrast to 
the amatory poems of antiquity. Most of these are either licentious 
or uninteresting, and those of Catullus, a man endowed by nature 
with deep and serious sensibility, and a poet of greater and more 
varied genius than Petrarch, are contaminated, above all the rest, 
with the most degrading sentiments. It is worthy of remark that 
nothing gross or unchaste can be found in the writings of the poet of 
Vaucluse, whose strains, diffused and admired as they have been, 
impart to the imaginations of youth an elevation and refinement 
which criticism can not estimate. ''The great defect of Petrarch," 
says Hallam, **was his want of strong original conception, which 
prevented him from throwing off the affected and overstrained manner 
of the Provencal troubadours and of the earlier Italian poets. Among 
his poems the Triumphs are perhaps superior to the Odes, as the 
latter are to the Sonnets; and of the latter those written subsequently 
to the death of Laura are in general the best. But that constrained 
and laborious measure can not equal the graceful flo\v of the canzone 
or the vigorous compression of the terza rima. The Triumphs have 
also a claim to superiority as the only poetical composition of Petrarch 
that extends to any considerable length. They are in some degree, 
perhaps, an imitation of the dramatic Mysteries, and form at least the 
earliest specimens of a kind of poetry not uncommon in later times, 
wherein real and allegorical personages are intermingled in a masque, 
or scenic representation." 

Petrarch lived in different cities, honored as a poet by various 
courts, until he was found dead in his library with his head resting 
on a book, and was said to have passed from the serenity of study 
to that of death, A. D. 1374, at the age of seventy. He will ever 
be regarded as one of the restorers of classical learning, and more 
perhaps than any other person as the father of modern poetry. He 
displayed all the powers of genius and poetical inspiration, not only 



1 50 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT, 

in his own native language, but also in Latin. His sonnets are 
esteemed the sweetest, most elegant, and most highly finished verses 
ever written in Italian ; and his songs possess uncommon beauty and 




grace, indicating that the poet had a most charming fancy. He 
deserves credit, hot only for his own writings and scholarship, but 
also for his services in promoting the revival of learning in Italy; and 



B O CCA CCIO'S WRITINGS. 1 5 i 

the aim of his whole Hfe may be said to have been to seek to 
accompHsh the true mission of Hterature. 

A less versatile author was Giovanni Boccaccio, who was born, 
A. D. 13 13, at Certaldo, in Tuscany. He abandoned successively com- 
merce and law for literature, studied with ardor the * ' Divina Comme- 
dia, " and cherished the friendship of Petrarch, from whom he received 
early instruction, and to whom he looked as a patron. After spend- 
ing some time abroad he returned to his native village, and devoted 
the remainder of his days to literary pursuits. A prose romance and 
an epical poem were his earliest compositions, and were written to 
please, and indirectly to praise, a lady of whom he was enamored. 
The poem, "La Teseide," is in the ottava 7iina, or strophe of eight 
verses, of which he has therefore been called the inventor, but which 
was previously known in Sicily. He wrote several works in Latin, 
and made an expensive collection of Greek manuscripts, but is chiefly 
known as the author of the ''Decamerone," and thereby as the father 
of Italian prose. The ** Decamerone," or ten days, is so-called because 
each of the ten persons introduced into it — seven ladies and three 
young men — relates ten stories each day, one hundred stories being 
thus told in ten days. The scene is a villa in the 'vicinity of Florence, 
whither they had fled from the plague, A. D. 1348, and the descrip- 
tion of that pestilence, Vv^ith which the work opens, is admired as a 
masterpiece of eloquence. Its avowed aim was only to furnish enter- 
taining narratives, but its real object seems to have been to present 
a picture of the whole human family, and to encourage virtue by 
commendation and to correct vice by ridicule. The style of the 
romance varies with wonderful ease as the occasion requires, and is 
in turn grave and elevated, most jocose or deeply pathetic, tragic, 
comic, or satirical. While it touches upon whatever in human affairs 
may delight or instruct, its beauty of composition is sometimes 
expended upon the most indelicate subjects. 

Despite the unchaste blemishes in it, the general tone of this 
elegantly written story is wholesome. The poems of Boccaccio are 
not equal to those of Petrarch, but his prose is unrivaled for its sim- 
plicity and grace. He possessed uncommon learning, and shares with 
Dante, Petrarch, and a few others the honor of contributing to the 
revival of letters in Europe. His constitution was weakened by his 
close application to study, and he died, A. D. 1375. 



1 5 2 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



Chapter III. 

WARS OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS. 

THE republics of Italy, in the early part of the fifteenth century, 
were disturbed by wars carried on by rival governors. The 
death of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, A. D. 1404, was followed by a 
remarkable crisis in Lombardy. His two sons, Giovanni Maria and 
Filippo Maria, both young, were placed under the care of a mother 
who was not competent to train them for usefulness. Through her 
misconduct, and the selfish ambition of some military leaders, who 
had commanded Gian Galeazzo's mercenaries, that extensive domin- 
ion was soon broken into fragments. Bergamo, Como, Lodi, Cre- 
mona, and other cities, revolted, submitting themselves in general to 
the families of their former princes, the earlier race of usurpers, who 
had for nearly a century been crushed by the Visconti. A Guelf 
faction revived, after the name had long been proscribed in Lombardy. 

Francesco de Carrara, lord of Padua, availed himself of this revo- 
lution, and seized Verona, at the same time menacing all the cities 
beyond the Adige. No family was so odious to the Venetians as 
that of Carrara, and they gladly made an alliance with the lord of 
Mantua against Padua, their old enemy. Both Padua and Verona 
were reduced, and, after surrendering the latter city, Francesco de 
Carrara, with his two sons, was sent to Venice, where all three were 
put to death by order of the * * Council of Ten, " a cruelty perfectly char- 
acteristic of that government. This war placed Venice in possession 
of Treviso, Feltro, Verona, Vicenza, and Padua, and, by thus giving 
her a considerable territory on the main-land, raised her to the dig- 
nity of a leading Italian state. Notwithstanding the deranged con- 
dition of the Milanese, no further attempts were made by the senate 
of Venice for twenty years. They had not yet acquired that decided 
love of war and conquest which soon began to influence them against 
all the rules of their ancient policy. Some cautious statesmen of the 
old school still remained to check ambitious designs. 

Sanuto has preserved an interesting account of the wealth and 
commerce of Venice in those days. The doge, Mocenigo, is repre- 
sented as dissuading his country, with his dying words, from under- 
taking a war against Milan, declaring that peace was more profitable. 



WEALTH OF VENICE. 



153 



He stated that three thousand merchant-ships were employed in car- 
rying on the trade of the repubHc ; and that forty-three galleys and 
three hundred smaller vessels, manned by nineteen thousand sailors, 
constituted its naval power. Ten millions of ducats were invested in 




THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS. 



mercantile business in different parts of the world, and the annual 
profits to the traders from this amount of capital was four millions 
of ducats. From the Milanese dominions alone the republic obtained 



1 5 4 ITAL V STJ^ UG GLING INTO LIGHT. 

one million of ducats in coin, and the value of almost a million 
more in cloths — the profit upon this traffic being about six hundred 
thousand ducats. Mocenigo reminded the Venetians that, having 
acquired this great wealth, they would become the masters of all the 
gold in Christendom, but warned them that unjust wars would lead 
infallibly to ruin. ''You have many among you," he said, "men 
of probity and experience ; choose one of these to succeed me ; but 
beware of Francesco Foscari. If he is doge you will soon ha\'e war, 
and war will bring poverty and loss of honor." 

Mocenigo died, and Foscari became doge. The prophecies of 
his predecessor were neglected ; and it can not wholly be affirmed 
that they were fulfilled. Yet Venice is described by a writer, thirty 
years later, as somewhat impaired in opulence by her long warfare 
with the dukes of Milan. The latter recovered a great part of their 
dominions as rapidly as they had lost them. Giovanni Maria, the 
elder brother, a monster of guilt, even among the Visconti, having 
been assassinated, Filippo Maria assumed the government of Milan 
and Padua, almost his only possession. He was weak and unwarlike 
himself; but he had the good fortune to employ Carmagnola, one of 
the greatest generals of that military age. Most of the revolted 
cities had become tired of their new masters ; and Carmagnola, by 
his eminent talents and activity, made this disaffection contribute to 
the welfare of the house of Visconti, which soon reassumed its former 
ascendancy from the Sessia to the Adige. It might have obtained 
greater conquests if Filippo Maria had not rashly and ungratefully 
offended Carmagnola, who retired to Venice, and inflamed the war- 
like disposition which the Florentines and the duke of Savoy had 
already excited. The Venetians had previously gained some impor- 
tant advantages in another quarter by reducing the country of Friuli, 
with part of Istria, which for many centuries had depended on the 
temporal authority of a neighboring prelate — the patriarch of Aqui- 
leia. They entered into this new alliance, which was in the end 
very profitable to the republic. Carmagnola commanded their armies, 
and in two years (A. D. 1426) Venice acquired Brescia and Bergamo, 
and extended her boundary to the river Adda, which she was des- 
tined never to pass. 

Florence, the most illustrious and fortunate of ItaHan republics, 
rapidly descended from her rank among free commonwealths, though 
shining with unusual luster. Ever since the insurrection, A. D. 1382, 
she had been ruled by an oligarchy, composed of the old Guelfic 
families and the new '' popolani givssi,'' or rich men of the people. 



THE G O VERNMENT OF FL ORENCE. 1 5 5 

During these fifty years this ancient aristocracy, or party of the 
Albizzi, suppressed every attempt at rebelHon, and banished the prin- 
cipal leaders. The populace and inferior artisans were discouraged 
by these failures, and their rulers, rendered still more tyr'annical, did 
not hesitate to violate the ancient constitution of the republic. They 
assembled a parliament, A. D. 1393, after a partial movement in 
behalf of the defeated faction, and estabhshed what was technically 
called at Florence a ''Balia," composed of a considerable number of 
citizens, to whom was delegated, for a limited time, a certain degree 
of sovereignty, having the authority during their dictatorship to ban- 
ish suspected individuals and to name the magistrates instead of 
drawing them by lot. This was a dangerous precedent, and at length 
resulted fatally to themselves and to the freedom of their country. 
A council of two hundred, consisting only of those who had enjoyed 
some of the higher offices within the past thirty years, was formed, 
A. D. 141 1, and through this every proposition must pass before it 
could be submitted to the two legislative councils. It was evident 
that the Albizzi were jealous of the people, and if they had continued 
to govern the republic of Florence more innovations would have been 
introduced until the constitution would have become, in legal form 
and substance, an instrument entirely favorable to the aristocracy. 

But while crushing with great severity their adversaries, the ruling 
party did not disturb the Medici family, whose prudence, wealth, and 
popularity had saved them from persecution. They were among the 
most prominent of the new or plebeian nobility, and from the first 
years of the fourteenth century their name often occurs in the domes- 
tic and military annals of Florence. Salvestro de Medici was partially 
implicated in the democratic revolution that occurred in the latter 
part of the fourteenth century; but, the Guelf party having revived, 
he was not proscribed, though some of his family were afterward 
banished. During the long period of depression, through which the 
popular faction passed, they always regarded the house of Medici as 
their consolation and their hope. The leader of the opposition was 
a rich merchant named Cosmo de Medici, whose genial and affable 
disposition made him popular in Florence. Albizzi disliked this 
wealthy and generous citizen, and succeeded in procuring his banish- 
ment, A. D. 1433 ; but the next year Cosmo was recalled by the 
Florentines, welcomed with great enthusiasm, and hailed as the 
''Father of his Country." The Medici soon placed themselves at 
the head of the state, and secured a power which they never afterward 
entirely lost. Neither Cosmo nor his successors assumed any partic- 



1 5 6 ITAL Y STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

ular title. "Their power was of a different kind from that of the 
lords or tyrants, either in old Greece or in other cities of Italy. Nor 
was it such a power as that of Pericles at Athens, as it passed on from 
father to son. It was more like the power of Augustus and the other 
Roman emperors who respected the forms of the commonwealth." 

The party opposed to Cosmo fled to Milan and induced the duke, 
Filippo Maria Visconti, who w^as already at war with Pope Eugenius 
IV, to attack Florence. The pope sought refuge in the latter city, 
and was sustained by both the Florentines and Venetians. The duke 
of Milan was defeated, and Francesco Sforza, the papal general, was 
acknowledged by the Milanese as their ruler, simply because they 
could not prevent it. The middle of the century saw Italy divided 
among four great temporal powers — the kingdom of Naples, the 
duchy of Milan, and the republics of Venice and Florence. A fifth 
power — the papacy — now began to assume its true place among the 
Italian states. It was weakened, however, by the "Great Schism," 
which continued until A. D. 141 6. The successor of Boniface IX 
was Innocent VII, who commenced to reign, A. D. 1404. After his 
removal by death, A. D. 1406, Gregory XII, was elected by the 
Roman faction. Benedict XIII, who ruled at Avignon, fled from 
France, and the cardinals of both parties held a council at Pisa, on 
the twent}'-fifth of March, A. D. 1409, in order to heal the divisions 
of the Church. Alexander V was chosen as a compromise; but the 
followers of Benedict and Gregory would not accept him, and hence 
there were three rival pontiffs. They Avere deposed, however, by the 
Council of Constance, A. D. 1416, and Martin V became the true 
pope, whom all acknowledged. He w^as followed by Eugenius IV, 
A. D. 143 1, who reigned sixteen years. His successor, Nicholas V", 
was one of the greatest of the Roman pontiffs. He built the mag- 
nificent palace of the Vatican, and adorned Rome Avith splendid 
churches. By his efforts the peace of Lodi (A. D. 1454), between 
Venice, IMilan, and Naples, was secured. After his death (A. D. 
1458), Pius II mounted the papal throne, and occupied it six years. 
Cosmo de Medici died, A. D. 1464, leaving his son, Pietro, to govern 
Florence. The latter reigned until A. D. 1469, and then joined his 
illustrious father in the realm of the departed. His sons, Lorenzo 
and Giuliano, became his successors; but the former soon obtained 
the entire control, which he held until A. D. 1492. 



SAVONAROLA. 157 



Chapter IV. 

SA VON AROLA— MICHAEL ANGELO— RAPHAEL, 

ABOUT the middle of the fifteenth century, or A. D. 1452, when 
the papal throne was occupied by a man of the most profli- 
gate character, and the spirit of freedom had almost departed from 
the Italian republics, the birth of Girolamo Savonarola occurred at 
Ferrara. He was descended from an illustrious family, originally 
belonging to Padua, and at an early age distinguished himself in 
his studies. It is said that from his childhood he was an enthu- 
siast in religious matters, and directed his attention chiefly to the- 
ology. His parents desired that he should become a physician, 
but he resolved to accept the monastic life, and in the twenty-third 
year of his age entered the Dominican convent at Bologna, as some 
have asserted, contrary to the wishes of his father. The superiors of 
the order, observing his deep piety and brilliant talents, appointed 
him to read lectures on philosophy. He won great distinction in 
the academical chair; but his first efforts as a pulpit orator were 
unpromising. A harsh and feeble voice and an ungraceful and un- 
pleasant address were defects that detracted from his efficiency, and 
he resolved to conquer them. Encouraged by the example of the 
renowned Athenian orator, he began, with the same enthusiastic per- 
severance, to overcome these obstacles. In A. D. 1488, after six 
years of earnest effort, he succeeded, and both surprised and delighted 
his former hearers by addressing them with a voice deep-toned and 
well modulated, accompanied with a remarkable gracefulness of action. 
He had now become a popular orator and a profound scholar. 

Savonarola, fearing that his eloquence would give him a popularity 
which might diminish his piety, determined to return to his cloister, 
and redouble his monastic austerities. In a short time he was ag^ain 
within the convent walls, renewing his self-denial and his penances 
with increased rigor, and prosecuting his studies, especially those of 
theology and metaphysics, with new zeal. It has been said that this 
event in his history first suggested to him the idea of his divine mis- 
sion. In A. D. 1484 he commenced to preach on the Book of 
Revelation at Brescia, and in a series of discourses which he delivered 
he attacked the vices and luxury of the inhabitants, and boldly de- 



158 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 




LORENZO DE MEDICI. 



clared to them that the walls of their city would one day be deluged 
with blood as a divine punishment for their sins. His followers 
believed that this threatening was accomplished, and the prediction 
remarkably fulfilled two years after his death, when Brescia was taken 
and sacked by the French. 

In A. D. 1489 Savonarola went to Florence, and resided in the 
Convent of St. Mark, which belonged to his order. Lorenzo de 
Medici admired his talents, and, knowing that he exerted a great 



REFORMS A CCOMPLISHED. 1 59 

influence over the public mind, endeavored to attach him to his 
cause; but the monk refused all the offers presented to him, and 
would not even visit the man whom he regarded as the usurper and 
destroyer of his country's liberties. Lorenzo had so much confidence 
in his piety that, when on his dying bed, he sent for him. Savon- 
arola this time obeyed the summons, and went to the ducal palace. 
He propounded to the dying man three very important questions: 
Whether he had entire confidence in the mercy o>f God? Whether 
he was willing to make restitution of all the goods which he had pro- 
cured unlawfully? And whether he was prepared to restore the 
Florentine republic to its former liberty? To the first two Lorenzo 
replied in the affirmative ; but, as to the third, he was silent. Where- 
upon Savonarola left him without administering the rite of absolution. 
The accuracy of this statement is disputed by Roscoe in his "Life 
of Lorenzo de Medici," but it is affirmed by the impartial Sismondi 
in his admirable " History of the Italian Republics." The latter 
had access to all the authorities, and is therefore far more accurate 
and fair than the former writer, who has done great injustice to 
Savonarola. 

During the government of Pietro, the proud and luxurious succes- 
sor of Lorenzo, the influence of Savonarola increased, and his enthu- 
siasm became more intense as his popularity advanced. Admiring 
thousands were attracted by his fervid eloquence to every church in 
which he preached, and he addressed them in the name of Heaven 
concerning the calamities that were approaching. With all the power 
of his vivid Italian "imagination he described the immorality and 
luxury which prevailed among all classes of the citizens, the corrup- 
tions of the prelates, the disorders of the Church, the troubles of the 
state, and the tyranny of its rulers. He announced to the people the 
coming judgments of God, and summoned them to speedy repentance. 
His denunciations produced a great effect, because, at that time, 
there were rumors of the invasions of Italy by Charles VIII, of 
France, whom Savonarola declared to be the monarch employed by 
Providence to punish the inhabitants for their vices, to introduce a 
salutary reform into the Church, and to deliver the country from 
political bondage. An extraordinary reformation followed the preach- 
ing of this stern and faithful monk. The people of Florence were 
strongly influenced by his exhortations; luxury was repressed, the 
women were governed in their dress by the rules of modesty, general 
immorahty was greatly diminished, and a change of manners became 
visible over the whole city. After the expulsion of the Medici, 



l6o ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Savonarola gave all the weight of his authority to those who estab- 
lished a popular government in Florence, and he had the satisfaction 
of beholding it rise on the ruins of the despotic and ambitious house 
of the Medici. His influence was all in favor of the re-establishment 
of the republic, and his advice was a controlling power in its counsels. 
But his greatest efforts were directed to that moral reform which he 
regarded as absolutely -necessary to the perpetuity of the new gov- 
ernment as to individual happiness and salvation. 

It was evident that a crisis was rapidly approaching. Savonarola 
had many enemies in Florence among the Franciscans, the Augustin- 
ians, the secret adherents of the house of Medici, and the dissolute 
portion of the citizens, w4io impatiently submitted to the freedom of 
his reproofs and the severity of the laws which he had procured. 
These various parties devised different means to destroy his influence, 
and finally succeeded by accusing him of disloyalty to the pope. 
Savonarola had preached that reform should commence with the head 
of the Church; and in his invectives he had not spared the then 
reigning pontiff, the infamous Borgia, Alexander VI. The Florentine 
monk publicly denounced the crimes which, in A. D. 1497, disgraced 
the family of the pope and scandalized all Italy. Alexander feared 
that these reforms introduced into Florence would make the corrup- 
tions at the court of Rome appear more prominent, and, moved also 
by personal resentment, he accused Savonarola of heresy, interdicted 
him from preaching, and finally hurled a bull of excommunication at 
him. The Florentine republic was likewise threatened if it permitted 
the heretic to speak, and, at the request of the senate, he desisted 
for some time from the exercise of his office, seeking to pacify the 
irritated pontiff But Savonarola's courage soon returned, and, desir- 
ing to manifest his disregard for the papal tribunal, he came forth 
from his cloister, appeared in public, and declared that the unjust 
sentence of the pope was invalid. He denounced him as an usurper, 
destitute of piety, and, therefore, unworthy to be a Christian bishop. 
Asserting that the Church had no human head, the brave monk 
announced that he was absolved, by divine command, from all obe- 
dience to the corrupt court of Rome. After celebrating mass he 
conducted a solemn procession round the convent, and then preached 
in the cathedral to greater crowds than ever. 

It required no gift of prophecy to foretell the fate of Savonarola. 
Defeated in every attempt to silence the object of his hatred, Alex- 
ander VI resolved to send Francesco de Pouille, a Franciscan and a 
preacher of the Minor Observantines, to Florence. This deputy from 



THE FIER V TRIAL. 1 6 1 

Rome publicly denounced the monk as a heresiarch, who had seduced 
the republic, and threatened the government with immediate interdic- 
tion and the confiscation of the property of its merchants in foreign 
countries unless the senate should prevent him from preaching any 
more. The Florentines were alarmed at the prospect of a conflict 
with the pope, and, despairing of the help of France, yielded to 
Alexander, and Savonarola was silenced. Pursuing his advantage, 
Pouille next declared from the pulpit that he understood that the 
heresiarch desired to confirm his false doctrines by a miracle. He 
therefore challenged him to submit the truth to the test of fire, and 
offered to walk with him through the flames. Savonarola, believing 
that this was a snare devised by his enemies, declined the fiery con- 
test ; but Bonvicini, one of his disciples, accepted the challenge. 
Pouille refused to go through the proposed ordeal with any one 
except the heresiarch himself, and another Franciscan, named Ron- 
dinelli, appeared as his substitute. The whole city, as well as the 
government, made preparations for the strange affair. The pope 
wrote to the Franciscans of Florence, commending their zeal for the 
honor of the *'Holy See," and declaring that the memory of the 
glorious event would be imperishable. 

On the 7th of April, A. D. 1498, the combustibles being pre- 
pared, the champions appeared on the spot, surrounded by an 
immense crowd of eager spectators, consisting of the inhabitants of 
the city and adjoining territories. The religious ceremonies had been 
performed, the flames were already kindled, and the multitude waited 
in breathless anxiety; but the Franciscans began to waver and sug- 
gest difficulties. First, they urged that the Dominican, Bonvicini, 
might be an enchanter, and therefore insisted that he should be 
divested of his raiment and clothed with a suit of their own selection. 
This demand having been complied with, they then objected to their 
opponent taking the host along with him, considering it impious to 
expose the body of Christ to the risk of being consumed by the flames. 
But on this point Savonarola was inflexible, and declared that it 
was unreasonable to deprive his friend of that which was the comfort 
of all Christians in their trial and the pledge of their safety. There 
was a protracted dispute on this point, which continued to a late 
hour ; and while it was yet undecided, a violent and unexpected 
shower of rain came on and extinguished the fire. The senate then 
dismissed the assembly to the satisfaction, it may be presumed, of 
both parties. But the multitude were disappointed. Their curiosity 
had been excited to the highest point, but it was now converted into 



1 62 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

indignation and ridicule. They were ignorant of the real ground of 
dispute between the monks, which had prevented the spectacle ; 
but, hearing that Savonarola had refused to comply with some con- 
dition required by the opposite party, the fickle, dissatisfied crowd 
insulted him. On reaching his convent he addressed the people, and 
explained the whole affair. An unfavorable impression, however, 
had already been made upon their minds, and he discovered that his 
influence over the masses was gone. On the following day he 
preached with great unction his last sermon, and, at its close, as if 
foreseeing his approaching doom, took farewell of his audience, and 
announced himself ready to sacrifice his life for the cause of Christ. 
The enemies of Savonarola, taking advantage of the prevailing 
dissatisfaction, irritated the public mind against him, by calling him a 
false prophet, who, at the moment of danger, declined to give the 
proof of his mission. Having collected in the cathedral church that 
same night, they raised the cry during divine service, "to arms! to 
St. Marc !" Instantly an infuriated mob rushed with hatchets and 
lighted torches tD the convent, forced open its gates, and seizing 
Savonarola and two other monks, conducted them to prison amidst 
insults and threatenings. While the excitement was intense, the 
conspirators led the mob through the city, killed many of the popular 
party, and compelled others to abdicate their places, which were 
immediately filled with persons belonging to the libertine faction. 
The institution of the carnival and the renewal of the sports that had 
been suppressed for several years indicated that the government 
had passed into different hands. A sudden revolution had indeed 
occurred, the republic was overthrown, and the Medici restored. 
The insurgents immediately sent a courier to the pope to inform him 
of the imprisonment of Savonarola. Alexander demanded that he 
and his companions should be brought to Rome and tried, and, in 
order to obtain the request, promised to grant indulgences to the people 
of Florence, with authority to reconcile to the Church all who had in- 
curred excommunication by listening to the sermons of the heretical 
monk. The senate insisted, however, that the trial should be con- 
ducted in Florence, and requested the pope to send two ecclesiastical 
judges from Rome to take charge of it. On their arrival the process 
commenced with the torture, and Savonarola, having a feeble constitu- 
tion, which had been further weakened by labors and austerities, could 
not long endure the rack. He was, therefore, forced to acknowledge 
that his prophecies were only simple conjectures ; but whdn his depo- 
sition was afterwards read to him, he declared that it was extorted 



THE PA TRIO T MAR TYR. 1 63 

by bodily agony, and maintained anew the truth of his revelations 
and of the doctrines he had preached. A second trial of the devoted 
monk, of which Roscoe has given an incorrect account, resulted as 
before, and the tribunal, finding them still heretical, condemned 
Savonarola and his two companions to the flames. He spent the 
interval in composing a commentary on the fifty-first Psalm, which, 
in lecturing on the Psalter, he had passed by, saying he would reserve 
it for his own calamity. On the 23d of May, A. D. 1498, a pile 
of fagots was erected on the spot where the voluntary trial by fire 
was to have occurred a few weeks before ; and the monks, after hav- 
ing been degraded, were bound to the stake. When the presid- 
ing bishop declared them separated from the Church, Savonarola 
exclaimed, "From the militant!" intimating that they were about to 
enter the Church triumphant. He spoke no more. The fire was 
immediately applied to the pile by one of his enemies, who took 
upon him the office of the executioner, and soon the bodies of the 
three monks were reduced to ashes, which, by order of the magis- 
trates, were gathered up and thrown into the Arno. Some relics 
were preserved by the soldiers, who guarded the place, and are still 
shown at Florence for the adoration of the devout. 

There are conflicting opinions concerning the character of Savon- 
arola. The Roman Catholic historians, without exception, and the 
ardent admirers of the house of Medici, have represented him as a 
turbulent, ambitious fanatic and demagogue, who endeavored to excite 
the people against their civil and ecclesiastical rulers, by claiming to 
possess the gift of prophecy, and to have immediate intercourse with 
heaven. These interested advocates of the Romish Church pro- 
nounced him a vile impostor, who pretended to have supernatural 
powers, so that he could humble and rule his superiors. On the 
other hand, his name has been enrolled among the bold witnesses 
for the truth before the Reformation, and some have called him the 
Luther of Italy, a glorious reformer and martyr. It is evident that 
a true estimate of his character can not be obtained by adopt- 
ing either of these representations. The best and most intelligent 
men of his age testify to his integrity, sanctity, and patriotism ; but 
there is no satisfactory evidence that he was an Italian Luther. 
Indeed, it is not certain that he taught the doctrines concerning justi- 
fication, the communion under both kinds, and others which were 
afterwards called Protestant. He labored to secure a thorough 
reformation of the manners of the people and of the clergy, rather 
than of the doctrines and ritual of the Church. While he believed 

12 



1 64 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

that the profligate court of Rome was the fountain whence flowed the 
corruptions which prevailed in the community, yet he did not seem 
to understand the true method of securing a radical reform in society. 
Instead of purifying the fountain by seeking a change in the erro- 
neous doctrines and practices of the Romish Church, he endeavored 
to cleanse the streams. It must be admitted that he was an earnest 
and, to some extent, a successful representative of those of his 
countrymen who, as Christians, lamented the corrupt condition of the 
Church, and as citizens resisted the encroachments made on their 
political rights. The fervor of his zeal led him into extravagance, 
and, in prosecuting his plans of reform, he sometimes yielded to the 
illusions of an overheated imagination, and deluded himself by believ- 
ing that he possessed supernatural gifts. This was probably one of 
the effects of his monastic life. But, admitting all this, there is abun- 
dant evidence that he was a good man, and sincerely desired to 
remedy the glaring evils of his times. Certainly there were few 
men of the 'fifteenth century to be compared with him, either as a 
Christian or patriot. 

While Italy produced in this century a Savonarola to reform 
Church and state, she also gave to the world, at the same period, a 
Michael Angelo and a Raphael Sanzio, to purify and elevate art. 
The former was born near Florence, A. D. 1474. His great genius 
showed itself in his earliest childhood. The ruler of Tuscany, 
Lorenzo de Medici, a liberal patron of the arts, was so pleased with 
the boy's simple manners, as well as by his devotion to art, that he 
invited him to reside entirely in his house, where he remained three 
years, treated with the greatest kindness. When Lorenzo died his 
brother, Pietro de Medici, continued to patronize Michael Angelo, 
but in a different spirit. Treating art as a toy, he employed the 
artist during a severe Winter to make a statue of snovv\ A few years 
after Pietro's banishment from Florence, which occurred, A. D. 1494, 
Michael Angelo made the celebrated statue of a ** Sleeping Cupid," 
which was sent to Rome ; where, without the sculptor's consent, it 
was shown as a piece of sculpture dug up from a vineyard, pro- 
nounced to be a genuine antique, superior to any thing which 
the art of the day had been able to produce. When the trick was 
discovered, Michael Angelo's reputation was so increased by it that 
he was invited to Rome, where he devoted himself to close study, 
and executed several marvelous works. By the novelty and grandeur 
of his style he created quite a new era in the arts. He designed the 
celebrated church of St. Peter's, at Rome, the largest and most magnifi- 



THE SCULPTOR'S LABORS. 



i6i 




MICHAEL ANGELO. 



cent in the world. As early as the fourth century a church had been 
erected by Constantine the Great upon the site of the circus of Nero, 
to commemorate the spot which had been hallowed to the Christian 
world as the burial-place of St. Peter, and the scene of many of the 
early martyrdoms. This church having fallen into decay in the 
course of eleven centuries, Nicholas V resolved to erect another in 
its place, which should rival the glories of Solomon's temple. When 
Michael Angelo was appointed architect he adopted the plan of the 



l66 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

Greek cross, and designed the dome, the tribune, and the transepts 
substantially as they now are ; and down to the beginning of the sev- 
enteenth century the spirit of this great man presided over the work 
and ruled it from his tomb. 

The artist also executed the splendid monument of Pope Julius 
II's tomb. While this latter work was in progress his patron, the 
same pope, delighted to come and inspect it. His next grand tri- 
umph was his painting of the roof of the Sistine Chapel, in the 
Vatican, which he completed in a year and six months. When 
Raphael saw it, struck with admiration, he immediately changed his 
own style, and with the candor of a great mind thanked God that he 
had been born in the same age with such a remarkable artist. Pope 
Leo X treated Michael Angelo badly, even compelling him to hew 
rocks and excavate roads. Afterwards this extraordinary man with- 
drew to Venice, where he designed the Rialto Bridge. Returning to 
Rome he finished Julius IPs monument, and proceeded with his pic- 
ture of the "Last Judgment," also for the Sistine Chapel, an im- 
mense work, which occupied him eight years. The career of Michael 
Angelo is an example of the splendid results produced by great 
powers when joined with great opportunities. He spent the closing 
years of his life in the construction of the mighty fabric of St. Peter's 
Church, directing fortifications, adorning the city with superb build- 
ings, finishing the Farnese palace, and executing many other impor- 
tant works. Old age, with its infirmities, came upon him, but he 
retained the vigor of his mental faculties to the end. He died, A. D. 
1563, in his eighty-ninth year. His last words were: "In your pas- 
sage through this life remember the sufferings of Jesus Christ." 
He was buried at Rome, but his remains were afterwards removed to 
the Church of the Santa Croce at Florence, where so many of the 
illustrious men of Italy have found their resting-place. 

Raphael Sanzio, or Santi, was the son of Giovanni Santi, and 
was born at Urbino, A. D. 1483. By studying the best mas- 
ters in painting, he soon rose to eminence, and merited the appel- 
lation of the "Divine Raphael." He is the Achilles of art; but 
beautiful as are his works, none excel the perfect picture of his life. 
Contemporary writers dwell with enthusiasm upon the gentle grace 
of his manners, the sweetness of his temper, his freedom from envy, 
and the readiness with which he communicated his knowledge to 
others. He breathed the atmosphere of love and admiration. By 
general consent he is acknowledged to have been the prince of paint- 
ers, and was also an architect, performing some important work in 



LITERARY CELEBRITIES. 



167 



St. Peter's Church at Rome. He died, A. D. 1520, at the early age 
of thirty-seven. 

The writers of the fifteenth century were not distinguished, Hke 
Dante and Petrarch, for creative genius, but dehghted rather in 
reproducing and commenting 
on the authors of antiquity. 
The printing press, invented in 
Germany, was most usefully 
employed in Venice, Bologna, 
and Rome, in multiplying cop- 
ies of the ancient authors, 
corrected by learned scholars. 
Only the first steps had been 
taken by Petrarch and Boccac- 
cio toward a new civilization. 
The introduction of the mari- 
ner's needle by Flavio Gioja 
had opened the ocean to the 
Europeans ; the travels of Marco 
Polo had awakened that curios- 
ity concerning the way to the 
East Indies which led Colum- 
bus to the discovery of the new 
world; the Arabic numerals had 
been substituted in Italy for the 
Roman ; academies were estab- 
lished to nurture the love of letters, and courts became an asylum for 
the most distinguished men ; and the popes in Rome, the Medici in 
Florence, the houses of the Visconti and Sforzas in Milan, and of the 
Gonzagas and Estes in Mantua and Ferrara, became protectors of lit- 
erature and the arts. Pope Nicholas V is especially celebrated for the 
encouragement which he gave to every branch of learning, and for 
the generous sacrifices which he made in collecting books. Alfonso 
of Aragon, king of Naples, is also eminent among these patrons of 
literature and science. Ludovico, surnamed the Moor, invited to his 
court in Lombardy many learned men, painters and architects, among 
whom were Leonardo da Vinci and Bramante, founded the Univer- 
sity of Pavia, granting it many privileges, and opened schools in 
Milan, to which most renowned professors gave distinction. The 
name of the Estes should be written in letters of gold among the 
protectors of literature in Italy. Gian Francesco Gonzaga, marquis 




1 68 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



of Mantua, opened a school, which attracted young men from 
Greece, Germany, and France. The example of the houses of Este 
and Gonzaga was imitated by the dukes of Savoy, who founded the 
University of Turin. But the most illustrious of the patrons of 
letters was Cosmo de Medici, who rose to pre-eminence among the 

noble families of Eu- 
rope. He founded 
' one library in Venice 
and three in Florence, 
and established the 
first academy for the 
study and promulga- 
tion of the Platonic 
philosophy. During 
his administration of 
affairs, the beautiful 
dome of the cathedral 
of Florence was built, 
and the city adorned 
with works of art. 
Pico della Mirandola 
was almost unrivaled 
in erudition, being 
profoundly versed in 
various languages. 
But Lorenzo the Magnificent may be considered the reviver of 
Italian literature, and was even called its father. He enriched libra- 
ries, reopened the University of Pisa, promoted the study of the 
popular poetry, and wrote, himself, many admired pieces for the 
popular taste. Under him Florence became a new Athens. Polizi- 
ano, Burchiello, Benivieni, and Pulci were among the poets who 
flourished at that period. Two names that belong to the fifteenth 
century are illustrious, especially in the eyes of Americans — Amerigo 
Vespucci and Christopher Columbus. The former was a native of 
Florence, and the latter of Genoa. Their discoveries shed a halo 
of imperishable glory upon Italy, and opened a new era in the history 
of mankind. 




CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 



OPPOSITION TO THE WALDENSES. 169 



Chapter V. 

FIRST PERSECUTIONS OF THE WALDENSES. 

IT has been truly said that the Waldenses occupy a unique posi- 
tion, not only on the surface of Europe, but also in the history 
of the Christian world. God selected them to accomplish a great 
work, and in the performance of it they stood alone. As the snow- 
clad peaks amid which they dwell look down upon the plains of Italy 
on the one side, and the provinces of France on the other, so this 
remarkable people are equally related to ancient and modern times. 
It is an undeniable fact that they existed many centuries before the 
birth of Protestantism. All the histories and countries of mediaeval 
Europe present proofs and monuments of the antiquity of the Wal- 
densian faith and worship, in which was the germ of the Reformation. 
Indeed, the doctrines of Protestantism are as old as the Waldenses, 
who simply preceded Luther in discovering them in the Bible. 

The peculiar and bitter hostility that Romanism has ever mani- 
fested toward this holy and venerable community is readily explained. 
If the Church of the Alps is old, the Church of Rome must be new; 
if the former is pure, then the latter is corrupt ; and if the one has 
retained the faith of the apostles, it inevitably follows that the other 
has departed from it. It is natural, therefore, that the Romish hier- 
archy should Avish to destroy this overwhelming proof of her apos- 
tasy, and silence a witness whose testimony so conclusively confirms 
the position of Protestantism. The growth of the Waldenses alarmed 
the Vatican. In their dispersions over so many lands — over France, 
the Low Countries, Germany, Poland, Bohemia, Moravia, England, 
Calabria, Naples — they sowed the seeds of that great spiritual revival 
which, commencing in the days of Wicklifife, and advancing in the 
times of Luther and Calvin, made Romanism tremble, and now re- 
generates its ignorant and degraded multitudes throughout the earth. 

In the fifteenth century the Church of Rome made a desperate 
effort to crush these Alpine Christians. About A. D. 1332 Pope 
John XXII, desiring to resume the work of Innocent III, ordered the 
inquisitors to visit the valleys of Lucerna and Perosa, and exter- 
minate the heretics that inhabited them. The bull commanding this 
persecution undesignedly acknowledged the then flourishing condi- 



1 70 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

tion of the Waldensian Church, inasmuch as the pope complains that 
the synods, which he calls chapters, were used to assemble in the 
valley of the Angrogna, attended by five hundred delegates. In 
A. D. 1352 Pope Clement VI instructed the bishop of Embrun, 
with whom he associates a Franciscan friar and inquisitor, to purify 
those parts adjoining his diocese which were contaminated with her- 
esy. Clement also urged Louis, king of Naples, to punish any of 
his subjects who had wandered from the faith, evidently referring to 
the Vaudois colonies then existing at Naples. Indeed, the pope, in 
a letter to Joanna, wife of the king of Naples, who owned lands in 
the marquisate of Saluzzo, near the "Valleys," insisted that she should 
purge her territory of the heretics. The secular lords, while wishing 
to obey the pope, were governed by self-interest, and evaded the 
command, which threatened the extermination of the most indus- 
trious and peaceable of their subjects. At that time these princes 
were often engaged in war among themselves, and had not much 
leisure or inclination to gratify the caprices of the pope. 

Gregory XI, writing to Charles V, of France, A. D. 1373, com- 
plains that his officers interfered with the inquisitors in Dauphine ; 
that the consent of the civil judge was required before any papal 
judge could institute proceedings against suspected parties, and that 
great disrespect to the spiritual tribunal was shown in releasing con- 
demned heretics from prison. While the princes and magistrates 
were disposed to be lenient, the inquisitors did not relax their efforts. 
One of them, Borelli, had one hundred and fifty Vaudois men, 
besides a great number of women, girls, and even young children, 
brought to Grenoble and burned alive. These acts of violence pro- 
voked opposition at times on the part of the Waldenses. In A. D. 
1375 they attacked the popish cit}/ of Susa, forced the Dominican 
convent, and put the inquisitor to death. Another cruel agent of 
the Vatican sent from Turin is said to have been slain on the high- 
way near Bricherasio. Many Dominicans suffered the penalty of 
death by venturing too far in the pursuit of the Vaudois. The per- 
secuting policy of the popes, which was thus inaugurated in the four- 
teenth century, became more sanguinary toward its close, and the 
flight of Peter's successor from Rome to Avignon, and the greater 
calamity of the schism in the Romish Church, did not divert their 
attention from the confessors of the Alps. The edicts of extermina- 
tion still went forth, and inquisitors searched the "Valleys" for new 
victims. 

The opening of the fifteenth century was marked by the most 



THE TRA GED V OF PR A GELAS. 1 7 1 

terrible tragedy that the Inquisition had yet enacted among the 
Waldenses. It occurred on Christmas, A. D. 1400, in the Valley of 
Pragelas, one of the higher reaches of Perosa, which opens near 
Pinerolo, and is watered by the Clusone. As the snow was deep on 
their mountains, the inhabitants, considering themselves sufficiently 
protected, apprehended no attack ; but they soon learned by bitter 
experience that the severity of Winter had not extinguished the fire 
of malice, which burned in the hearts of their persecutors. The 
man named above, Borelli, in command of an armed troop, broke 
suddenly into Pragelas, with the determination to exterminate the 
entire population. The terrified inhabitants fled hastily to the mount- 
ains, taking on their shoulders their old men, their sick, and their 
infants, dreading to leave them in the hands of their enemies. In their 
flight a great many were overtaken and slain. The darkness of the 
night enabled then to escape from their pursuers, but other dreadful 
calamities awaited them. The main body wandered in the direction 
of Macel, and encamped on a summit which rises from the valley of 
San Martino. Without food, without shelter, the Winter's sky above 
them, the frozen snow around them, their sufferings must have been 
inexpressibly great in this ice-clad and storm-swept region. On the 
following morning a heart-rending scene was disclosed by the early 
dawn. The hands and feet of many were frozen, while others had 
perished, and their stiffened corpses were stretched out on the snow. 
Fifty young children died with cold, some on the bare ice, and others 
locked in the frozen arms of their mothers. That memorable spot 
has since been called the Alberge, or Refuge, and to this day in the 
valley of Pragelas the venerable sire recites to the son the tale of 
that Christmas tragedy. 

During the fifteenth century the bloody work of destroying here- 
tics was vigorously prosecuted, though no fearful catastrophe, like 
that already descpbed, occurred in the valleys of Piedmont. The 
inquisitors, ever on the track for them, kidnaped individual Vaudois, 
whenever they ventured into the plains, and carried them to Turin 
and other towns, where they were burned alive. But the Roman 
Church was enraged at the slow progress she was making in crushing 
this heresy. The number of Waldensians did not seem to diminish; 
their constancy was unshaken, and no power could compel them to 
accept the dogmas of Rome. They were as unmoved by the edicts, 
inquisitors, torturings, and burnings of their unrelenting persecutors 
as their rocks were under the tempests of hail and snow, which the 
whirlwinds of Winter hurl against them. Pope Innocent VIII was 



1/2 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

in the papal chair, A. D. 1487, when the crusades against the Wal- 
denses seemed to languish, and remembering how his celebrated name- 
sake, Innocent III, had purged the south of France of the Albigen- 
sian heresy, he resolved to strike a severe blow, and, by an act of 
summary vengeance, exterminate the Vaudois as effectually and 
speedily as his predecessor had disposed of the Albigenses on the 
plains of Dauphine and Provence. 

The issuing of a bull denouncing as heretical those who had been 
marked for the slaughter was the first step. This remarkable docu- 
ment, like all others of its kind, was adroitly written, containing the 
most sanctimonious words, but pervaded with a malignant spirit. 
The Waldenses were not charged with lawlessness, idleness, dishon- 
esty, or any crime, except disloyalty to the pope, and the practicing 
of a ''simulated sanctity" which seduced the sheep of the true fold. 
It was proclaimed, therefore, that this ''malicious and abominable 
sect of malignants, if they refuse to abjure, must be crushed like 
venomous snakes." 

Innocent VIII appointed Albert Cataneo, archdeacon of Cre- 
mona, his legate to execute his bull practically, and by him papal 
instructions were sent to all princes, dukes, and powers within whose 
dominions any Vaudois were found. Among these were Charles 
VIII of France, and Charles II of Savoy, who were commanded to 
support Cataneo with their entire military power. *'The bull invited 
all Catholics to take up the cross against the heretics ; and to stimu- 
late them in this pious work, it absolved from all ecclesiastical pains 
and penalties, general and particular ; it released all who joined the 
crusade from any oaths they might have taken ; legitimatized their 
title to any property they might have illegally acquired, and prom- 
ised remission of all their sins, to such as should kill any heretic. 
It annulled all contracts made in favor of Vaudois, ordered ' their 
domestics to abandon them, forbade all persons to give them any aid 
whatever, and empowered all persons to take possession of their 
property." 

What more powerful incentives than plenary pardon and unre- 
strained license could be presented to awaken the zeal of the neigh- 
boring populations, always too willing to manifest their devotion to 
the papal Church by shedding the blood and forcibly taking the 
goods of the Waldenses? The king of France and duke of Savoy 
were obedient to the summons from the Vatican, and hastened to 
unfurl their banners and enlist soldiers in the holy cause. In a short 
time a numerous army was advancing to the mountains to sweep 



THE PAPAL ARMY— THE PROPOSED CAMPAIGN. 173 

from their ancient home these confessors of the Gospel faith. Fol- 
lowing this organized force was a motley crowd of volunteers, ** vag- 
abond adventurers," says Muston, "ambitious fanatics, reckless pil- 
lagers, merciless assassins, assembled from all parts of Italy ;" in fact, 
a miserable horde of brigands, and well adapted to the work they 
were' assembled to do. Besides these thousands of ruffians, whom 
the spiritual and temporal rewards of this combined piety and pillage 
had attracted, the joint army contained about eighteen thousand' 
regular soldiers. 

It was June, A. D. 1488, before all the arrangements for the 
campaign had been completed. The pope's bull was discussed in 
all countries, and the din of preparation was heard far and near. 
All kings were invited to assist the Church in destroying her enemies. 
The soil pblluted by Vaudois feet must be cleansed ; the air tainted 
by Vaudois breath must be purified ; and no Vaudois psalm or prayer 
must be permitted in the future to ascend and spread the infection 
of heresy. The terrible blow was to fall, not only on the Walden- 
sian mountains, but on the Waldensian race in Germany, in Calabria, 
and wherever dispersed. While the surrounding nations were ex- 
cited, and the bustle of preparation resounded throughout Italy and 
France, these innocent Christians, upon whom this fearful tempest was 
about to burst, were ignorant of approaching danger. The Piedmon- 
tese division of the army marched toward the *' Valleys " proper, on 
the Italian side of the Alps. The French division, advancing from 
the north, proceeded to attack the inhabitants of the Dauphinese 
Alps, where the Albigensian heresy, recovering to some extent from 
the cruel persecutions of Innocent III, had again taken root. Two 
devastating storms, from opposite directions, or more correctly fromi 
all directions, approached those mighty mountains. The lamp of 
truth which had shone for ages in this sanctuary of the primitive- 
faith was about to be extinguished. 

The plan of the campaign was to attack at the same time on the 
two opposite points of the great mountain chain ; and marching, the 
one army from the south-east, and the other from the north-west, to 
meet in the Valley of Angrogna, the center of the territory, and 
there strike the final blow. The French division of this host, advanc- 
ing against the Alps of Dauphine was commanded by the lord of La 
Palu, a daring and cruel adventurer. With his fanatics he ascended 
the mountains, and entered the Vale of Loyse, a deep gorge over- 
hung by towering mountains. The alarmed inhabitants, beholding 
an armed force, twenty times their own number, penetrating their 



174 ITALY STRUGGLLXG INTO LIGHT. 

valley, abandoned all hope of resisting them, and prepared to escape. 
Placing their old people and children in rustic carts, together with 
their domestic utensils, and collecting such food as the urgency of the 
occasion permitted, and driving their herds before them, they began 
to climb the rugged slopes of Mount Pelvoux, which rises more than 
six thousand feet over the level of the valley. As they climbed the 
steeps they sang hymns of praise, which seemed to smooth their 
rocky path and cheer their drooping hearts. Many were overtaken 
and slain, and thereby delivered from a more terrible death, which 
awaited the others. At length the fugitives reached Aigue-Froid, an 
immense cavern, named from the cold springs that gush out from its 
rocky walls. Standing on a platform of rock in front of the cavern, 
they saw beneath them only fearful precipices, which must be clam- 
bered over before they could reach the entrance of the grotto, but 
to them this was not a difficult undertaking. This place of conceal- 
ment is a roomy hall of irregular shape, the roof of the cave forming 
a magnificent arch, which gradually subsides and contracts into a nar- 
row passage, or throat, and then widens again. Into this grotto the 
Vaudois entered, the able-bodied men having posted themselves at 
the mouth of the outer passage, after they had placed their women, 
children, and old men, in the inner hall, and distributed their cattle 
and sheep in the cavities which abound on the sides of the cave. 
The doorway and path leading to it were barricaded with huge stones. 
Cataneo says they had provisions to last "two years," and there was 
but little probability of their capture, because the enemy could be 
hurled headlong down the precipices, even if they succeeded in scal- 
ing them. 

But their pursuer. La Palu, contrived a plan, which rendered all 
these precautions and defenses unavailable. Ascending the mountain 
on the other side, and approaching the cave from above, he let down 
his soldiers by ropes from the precipice that overhangs the entrance 
to the grotto, thus securing for his soldiers the platform in front. 
It seems strange that the Vaudois did not cut the ropes and destroy 
the soldiers as they were being lowered one by one ; but the bold- 
ness of the movement evidently paralyzed them, and, terror-stricken, 
they retreated into the depths of their hiding-places. La Palu would 
not permit his men to follow them, but, collecting a sufficient quan- 
tity of wood, he placed it at the entrance and set fire to it. The 
black smoke rolled into the cave, and the Vaudois were compelled to 
decide between death by suffocation and death by the sword. Some 
rushed out and were massacred, but the greater part remained and 



THE TERRIBLE MASSACRE. 1 75 

were stifled by the murky vapor. ''When the cavern was after- 
wards examined," says Muston, ** there were found in it four hun- 
dred infants suffocated in their cradles or in the arms of their dead 
mothers. Altogether there perished in this cavern more than three 
thousand Vaudois, including the entire population of Val Loyse. 
Cataneo distributed the property of these unfortunates among the 
vagabonds who accompanied him, and never again did the Vaudois 
Church raise its head in these blood-stained valleys." 

The inhabitants of the neighboring valleys of Argentiere and 
Fraissiniere had been selected for slaughter, and the catastrophe of 
the Vale of Loyse convinced them that their only chance of safety 
was in resistance. By barricading the passes of their valleys and 
massing their forces, they alarmed the enemy and were not dis- 
turbed. A detachment of the French army advanced across the 
Alps in a south-east direction toward the Waldensian valleys, there 
to unite with the main body under Cataneo. Marching onward, 
they slaughtered, burned, and pillaged until at last they reached the 
Valley of Pragelas, which had been the scene of the Christmas 
tragedy, A. D. 1400. When this horde of cruel assassins suddenly 
burst upon them the peaceful inhabitants, not expecting^an invasion, 
were busy reaping their harvests. A panic ensued, the people aban- 
doning their homes, and seeking safety in flight. Some were over- 
taken and massacred ; hamlets and whole villages were burned, and 
the barbarous deeds of the Val Loyse were repeated in the Valley 
of Pragelas. Taking combustible materials and placing them at the 
openings of caves, the soldiers kindled fires, whose fatal smoke pene- 
trated the hiding-places of the Vaudois, and then eddying along the 
roof slowly made its exit into the clear Summer sky. All was silent 
within. There, in one motionless heap, lay patriarch and stripling, 
mother and babe. These outrages aroused the inhabitants, who 
united and drove the murderers from their valleys, compelling them to 
pay a heavy penalty for the depredations they had committed. 

The Piedmontese division of the invading army was led by the 
papal legate, Cataneo, in person, and was advancing to those valleys 
in Piedmont which were considered the ancient seat and stronghold 
of the Vaudois heresy. Halting at Pinerolo, near the frontier of the 
doomed district, Cataneo sent a company of preaching monks to 
convert the men of the "Valleys;" but they returned without having 
accomplished any thing. The army continued its march, and entered 
the fertile plain through which flows the river Clusone, amid lovely 
vineyards and rich corn-fields, and overlooking which are the towering 



176 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 



mountains with their pasturages, chestnut forests, and snows. Turn- 
ing round the shoulder of Bricherasio, the forces of Cataneo, followed 
by a multitude of pillagers and cut-throats, advanced up the avenue 




VIEW OF LA TORRE. 



to La Torre, the capital of the '* Valleys, " and encamped before it. 
The inhabitants, inoffensive and without any means of resistance, 
understood how to cultivate vineyards and lead their flocks to pas- 



THE ADVANCING ARMY. lyy 

ture, but were entirely ignorant of the art of war. Beholding this 
mighty host the Waldensians sent two of their patriarchs, John Campo 
and John Desiderio, as embassadors, to request an interview with 
Cataneo. "Do not condemn us without hearing us," said they, 
**forwe are Christians and faithful subjects, and our bai'bcs are pre- 
pared to prove, in public or in private, that our doctrines are conform- 
able to the Word of God. . . . Our hope in God is greater 
than our desire to please men ; beware how you draw down upon 
yourselves his anger by persecuting us ; for remember, if God so wills 
it, all the forces you have assembled against us will nothing avail." 

These weighty words were meekly spoken, but they produced 
no visible effect upon Cataneo and his ruffian host. Their hearts 
appeared to be as hard as the rocks that rose around them. Believ- 
ing that these simple herdsmen were entirely defenseless, and desir- 
ing to strike a finishing blow, the papal legate divided his army into 
a number of attacking parties, which were to commence the battle 
simultaneously at various points. One troop was stationed at the 
entrance of Val Lucerna. Then the next important movement of 
the invaders was to occupy the town of La Torre, which is situated 
on the angle formed by the junction of the Val Lucerna and the Val 
Angrogna. The inhabitants having fled to the mountains, the blood- 
thirsty crusaders were probably denied the pleasure of murdering 
them in their homes. Beyond La Torre the valley is wide, and 
incapable of being defended. The army moved along it without 
opposition, the warlike appearance of the troops presenting a strik- 
ing contrast with the peaceful countenance of the landscape. It 
was clothed on all sides with a carpet of rich meadows, flecked 
with the shadows of fruitful trees, and watered by the silver Pel- 
lice. A massive wall of mountains rises on either hand, their sides 
decorated with rich pasturages, golden grain, festooned vines, and 
dark chestnut forests. Over these are suspended immense battlements 
of rock ; and above all are the everlasting peaks, towering into the 
heavens, and clad in their white robes of ice and snow. But what 
were these sublimities of nature to men in whom the worst passions 
struggled for supremacy? 

In their march up the valley the soldiers next came to Villaro, 
which is situated about midway between the entrance and head of 
Lucerna, on a ledge of turf in the side of the great mountains, 
raised some two hundred feet above the Pellice, which flows past at 
about a quarter-mile's distance. The town was taken without much 
difficulty, as most of the inhabitants, having been warned of approach- 



I y^ ITAL Y STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

ing danger, fled to the Alps. History does not record what punish- 
ment was inflicted on those who were unable to escape, but it is 
known that the half of Lucerna, with the towns of La Torre and 
Villaro, and their hamlets, was occupied by Cataneo's soldiers, whose 
progress, though victorious, could not be called glorious, because 
they had conquered only unarmed peasants. 

Pursuing their march, the invaders came next to Bobbio, a name 
not unknown in classic history. The town nestles at the base of the 
Col la Croix, whose lofty summit points the way to France, and 
overhangs a path that may have been traversed by apostolic feet. 
Through the dark gorges of the mountains the river Pellice rushes in 
a thundering torrent, and meanders in a flood of silver along the 
valley. At this point the grandeur of the Val Lucerna reaches its 
culmination. Every traveler halts to survey the scene that must 
have met the eyes of Cataneo and his marauding host, and which 
should have softened their hearts. Immediately behind Bobbio rises 
the "Barion," with all the symmetry of an Egyptian obelisk, but far 
taller and more massive, its summit attaining an elevation of three 
thousand feet above the roofs of the little town. The grandest 
monument of Europe's proudest capital is a mere child's toy com- 
pared with this huge monolith. But even this is only one of the 
majestic figures in the group. Sweeping round the extremity of the 
valley, and extending above the Barion behind, is a magnificent 
amphitheater of precipices and crags, inclosed by a background of 
towering mountains, some rounded like domes, otArs sharp as 
needles. Rising out of this sea of hills are the loftier forms of the 
Alp des Rousses and the Col de Malaure, which seem to guard the 
gloomy pass that winds its way under overhanging precipices and 
splintered rocks, until it opens into the valleys of the French Protest- 
ants and ends on the plains of Dauphine. In Summer Bobbio sits 
in this glorious amphitheater like a queen in a bower of blossoms 
and fruit, and in the Winter like a king, on whose frowning castle 
fall the shadows of the mountains and the mists of their tempests. 
As Cataneo hastened onward to the little town, the repose and beauty 
of nature should have awakened some emotion of compassion ; but 
his thoughts were only of blood. 

The capture of Bobbio was an easy undertaking and an important 
victory, because the inhabitants had escaped to the Alps or their 
blood mingled with the waters of their own Pellice, and possession 
of the town gave the invading army the control of the entire Valley 
of Lucerna. Having obtained many advantages of position, Cataneo 



CA TANEO'S PLAN. 1 79 

projected other and remoter expeditions. His plan was to march 
over tlie Col Julien, sweep down upon the Valley of Prali, which 
is on the north of it, punish its inhabitants, move on to the valleys 
of San Martino and Perosa, and, making the circuit of the "Val- 
leys," clear the ground as he went onward of its polluting heresy, 
at least of its heretics, meet the main body of crusaders, who he 
expected would, by this time, have finished their work in the Valley 
of Angrogna, and unitedly celebrate their victory. If this plan could 
be executed, the papal forces would then be able to say that they 
had gone over the Waldensian territory, and •accomplished that desir- 
able work so long meditated, often attempted, but never effected. 

The expedition across the Col Julien was immediately com- 
menced. For this service a corps of seven hundred men was 
detached from the army in Lucerna. On the north side of Bobbio 
the ascent of the mountain opens, and the soldiers begin to march 
upwards ; but they soon find it a toilsome undertaking, as the track 
is a mere foot-path formed by the herdsmen. As they proceed 
further, numerous chalets and hamlets, sweetly embowered amid 
mantling vines, or the branches of the apple and cherry tree, or the 
goodlier chestnut, present a home-like appearance ; but the inhabitants 
have fled. Continuing the ascent, a great altitude on the mountain- 
side is attained. Beneath them is Bobbio, a mere speck of brown. 
There is the Valley of Lucerna, a ribbon of green with a thread of 
silver woven into it, and lying along amid masses of mighty rocks. 
There, across Lucerna, towering up in the silent sky are the mount- 
ains that inclose the Valley of Rora ; on the right are the spiky 
crags that bristle along the Pass of Mirabquc, that leads to France, 
and yonder in the east is a glimpse of the far -extending plains 
of Piedmont. 

But the summit is still in the distance, and the soldiers of the 
papal legate slowly toil up the rugged, steep path. Ascending 
higher, they look down on pinnacles which half an hour before 
looked down on them. Other lofty eminences, tall as the former, 
still rise above them ; they climb to these spires of Nature's cathe- 
dral, which in their turn sink beneath their feet. This process is 
repeated again and again, until at last they stand upon the downs 
that clothe the shoulders of the mountain. The scene around them 
now becomes one of stupendous and inexpressible grandeur. Away 
to the east, now fully within the range of vision, is the plain of Pied- 
mont, level as the ocean, and green as a garden. Dark gorges and 
fearful abysses yawn at their feet, while pinnacles resembling spikes 

13 



I80 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

peer up from below, as if to buttress the mountains. A multitude 
of Alps seem to fill the horizon. Prominent among these on the 
east is the Col la Vechera, whose snow-capped summit attracts the 
eye to the more than classic valley over which it towers, where the 
barbes in ancient days were accustomed to assemble in synod, and 
sent out missionaries at the peril of Hfe to distribute the Bible and 
sow the seed of the kingdom. As this was the terminating point 
of their expedition in the Val di Angrogna, the advancing corps no 
doubt marked the spot. Monte Viso, the crowning glory of the 
scene, rising up in the west in bold relief and appearing in the ebon 
vault like a mountain of silver, spread its magnificence before them ; 
but these crusading soldiers had neither eyes to see nor hearts to 
feel the majesty of God's works. 

The pass terminates in a steep grassy slope, which they climbed 
on their hands and knees, and, standing on the summit, they looked 
down on the Valley of Prali, then a scene of peace. Its snow-clad 
hills, conspicuous among which is the Col 'd Abries, stood as a guard 
around it. Foaming torrents rolled down their sides, and, by uniting 
in the valley, formed a full and rapid river. Numerous hamlets were 
scattered over the bosom of the plain. The peasants were working 
in the corn-fields and meadows ; their children played around the 
humble cottages ; their herds browsed in the rich pastures. This flock 
of human vultures had suddenly appeared on the mountains above, 
and with greedy eyes looked down upon their prey. Believing that 
a few hours' work would convert these dwellings into smoldering 
ruins, these seven hundred assassins rushed down on the plain to 
slaughter the inhabitants and take their herds and goods. But the 
humble peasants of this secluded valley, instead of fleeing, as the 
soldiers expected, hastily assembled and prepared to defend their 
homes. A battle was fought at the hamlet of Pommiers. Fired with 
indignation at the cowardly and bloody assault, the Vaudois, with 
rude weapons, and an unwavering trust in God — which gave them 
strength and courage — attacked the enemy, already wearied with the 
rugged, slippery tracks of the mountains. The entire company, with 
the exception of one ensign, was cut down. During the carnage he 
escaped and ascended a mountain stream. Finding a cavity which 
the Summer heats had formed in a mass of snow, he crept into it for 
safety, and remained there in concealment for some days until at last, 
driven forth by hunger and cold, he went to the men of Prali and 
entreated their mercy. They generously pardoned this solitary sur- 
vivor of all the seven hundred that had come to massacre them, and 



VAL DI ANGROGNA. 1 8 1 

sent him back across the Col JuHen to those from whom he had 
come, that they might know the determination of the Vaudois to 
fight for their healths and altars, and that they might ascertain the 
fate of the six hundred and ninety-nine. 



Chapter VI. 

FAILURE OF CATANEO'S EXPEDITION. 

RETURNING to the main body of the papal army, we find Cat- 
aneo encamped almost at the gates of La Torre, beneath the 
shadow of the Castelluzzo. The entrance to the Val di Angrogna is 
near the place where the camp was established. This valley extends 
a dozen miles into the Alps, consisting of a grand succession of open 
dells and narrow gorges, with walls of majestic mountains on either 
side, and terminating in a noble circular basin — the Pra del Tor — 
which is surrounded with snowy peaks, and forms the most interest- 
ing spot in all the Waldensian territory, being the seat of their col- 
lege, and the meeting-place of their barbes. In the Pra del Tor, or 
Meadow of the Tower, Cataneo expected to find the mass of the 
Waldensian people assembled, supposing it to be their strongest ref- 
uge. Besides his own army, he expected to have the assistance of 
the corps which he had sent round by Lucerna, and which, no doubt, 
had made the circuit of the ''Valleys," devastated Prali and San Mar- 
tino, climbed the mountain barrier, and would soon reach La Torre, 
While he awaited their coming the corpses of all that slain host were 
lying in the valley of Prali; but Cataneo was ignorant of their fate. 
The humble supplication of the Waldenses for peace was contemptu- 
ously rejected, as we have stated in the previous chapter, and now 
they must choose one of three courses : accept the doctrines of the 
Romish Church, be slaughtered like sheep, or fight for their lives. 
They resolved to go to war, and prepared for it by first removing 
to a place of safety all who were not able to bear arms. 

Taking their ovens, kneading-troughs, and other culinary utensils, 
conveying their aged on their shoulders, and leading their children by 
the hand, they ascended the hills in the direction of the Pra del Tor, 
at the head of the Val di Angrogna. They could be seen traversing 
the rugged paths, transporting their household articles, and making 
the mountains melodious with their religious songs, which they 



182 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



sweetly sung as they advanced. Many remained behind to manufac- 
ture pikes and other weapons of defense and attack, to repair the 
barricades, to arrange themselves in fighting parties, and assign to 




PASS OF PRA DEL TOR. 



the various corps the positions they were to defend. Cataneo com- 
manded his army to move forward, feeling confident that on the same 
spot where the Barbcs had so often met in synod, and enacted rules 



THE BA TTLE—BLA CK MOND O VI— CA TANEO DEFEA TED. 1 8 3 

{ox the government of their Church and the spread of their faith, he 
would complete the campaign by proclaiming the final extinction of 
the Waldensian heresy. 

He advanced to a point near the town of La Torre, then made a 
sharp turn to the right, and entered the Val di Angrogna. Its open- 
ing is soft and even as any meadow in America, and the invaders, 
finding no obstructions, marched onward. The Vaudois determined 
to make a stand on the heights of Rocomaneot, and accordingly 
stationed their fighting men along its ridges. Clad in the simplest 
armor, the bow being almost their only weapon of attack, and their 
bucklers only skin, covered with the bark of the chestnut tree, these 
brave men awaited the beginning of the conflict. There were a 
number of women and children gathered for shelter in a hollow 
which is protected by the rising ground on which their fathers, hus- 
bands, and brothers were arranged for battle. The Piedmontese 
soldiers advanced up the acclivity, and sent a shower of arrows 
into the Waldensian line, which made it waver. Those behind, be- 
holding the danger, fell on their knees, and extending their hands in 
supplication to the God of battles, cried aloud, ''O God of our 
fathers, help us! O God, deliver us!" The attacking host heard 
that cry, and one of its captains, Le Noir of Mondovi, or the Black 
Mondovi, a bigoted, proud, blood-thirsty man, instantly shouted out 
that his soldiers would give the answer, pronouncing horrible blas- 
phemies with the threat. As he spoke he raised his visor, and 
immediately an arrow from the bow of Pierre Revel of Angrogna 
penetrated his skull between the eyes, and he fell dead on the earth. 
The death of this daring leader disheartened the papal army. The 
soldiers began to retreat, and were chased down the slope by the 
Vaudois, who now rushed down upon them like their own mountain 
torrents. After driving the enemy to the plain, and destroying many 
in their flight, the Waldenses returned toward evening to the heights 
where they had triumphed, to celebrate with songs the victory which 
the God of their fathers permitted to crown their arms. 

In a few days Cataneo, burning with shame and rage, because 
he had been defeated by herdsmen, reassembled his forces and made 
a second attempt to enter the Angrogna. After passing the heights 
of Rocomaneot, the scene of his first disaster, and not encountering 
any resistance, he plunged into the narrow defiles beyond, believing 
that success would now attend his efforts. The path through this 
dark passage is overhung with great rocks, rendered gloomy by the 
branches of laj-ge chestnut-trees that extend over it, and then termi- 



1 84 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

nates in an ample and fertile valley. Thus far the papal leader had 
proceeded without opposition, and had in his possession that part of 
of the Val di Angrogna on the left of the torrent, including numer- 
ous hamlets, with their finely cultivated fields and vineyards; but he 
saw no inhabitants. They had fled to the men of Lucerna in the 
Pra del Tor, and between him and them stood the ** Barricade," a 
steep mountain of Cyclopean height and strength, which extends like 
a wall across the valley. 

It now seemed as if the advance of Cataneo must here end. He 
beheld the white peaks around the Pra; but between him and his 
prey rose the Barricade, which could not be scaled. After searching 
he found, unfortunately for him, an entrance, Avhich some convulsion 
of nature had made by rending the mountains and forming a long, 
dark, and narrow chasm, and through this runs the one only path to 
the head of Angrogna. Into this frightful gorge the commander of 
the papal host boldly led his men, little thinking how few would ever 
return. On the side of the mountain is a rocky ledge, so narrow 
that only two abreast can traverse it, and in case of attack, either in 
front or in rear or from above, there is no opportnnity to retreat, 
nor can the assailed party find room to fight. This only pathway 
through the chasm is midway between the bottom of the gorge, 
along which thunders the stream, and the summit of the mountain. 
The naked cliff rises up perpendicularly at least one thousand feet, 
in some places leaning over the path in huge masses, and threatening 
to fall upon it. At one point the golden beams of the sun shine in 
through fissures in the mountain side, relieving the darkness of the 
chasm and making it visible. At another, appears a level space of 
about a half-acre, affording room on the brink of the mountain to a 
clump of birches, with their tall, silvery trunks, or a chalet, with its 
bit of bright, closely shaven meadow. But these cheerful spots only 
partially relieve the rugged features of the terrible chasm, which runs 
from one to two miles, and suddenly opens, with a burst of light, 
revealing to the eye a flashing of white peaks above, and- a vast 
amphitheater of meadow beyond, apparently large enough for the 
encampment of an entire nation. 

The papal army marched as best they could along the narrow 
ledge, and was now approaching the Pra. Cataneo was confident 
that his prey could not escape him ; and the Waldenses seemed to 
him possessed of but one neck, which he would soon sever at a blow.' 
But God protected his people. He had said of the invader, as of 
another tyrant of former ages, *'I will put my hook in thy nose, 



CATANEaS ARMY DESTROYED, 1 85 

and m}' bridle in thy lips, and I will cause thee to return by the way 
by which thou earnest." But by what agency was this host to be 
destroyed ? God did not send a mighty angel to blockade the pass 
and smite Cataneo's army, as he did Sennacherib's. He had power 
to awaken the sleeping thunder and hurl its bolts, and to rain the 
hailstones upon Cataneo's soldiers, as of old on Sisera's, but they 
fell not. An earthquake, rocking the ground, or a whirlwind, rend- 
ing the mountains, would have discomfited the papal forces ; but 
all was quiet in nature's realm. The instrumentality employed to 
shield the Vaudois was one of the lightest and frailest in the material 
world, but it closed the pass as effectually as bars of adamant could 
have done. 

The Vaudois beheld a white cloud, no larger than a man's hand, 
gathering on the summit of the mountain, about the time the Pied- 
montese army would be entering the defile. That cloud, unobserved 
at first by the invaders, became rapidly larger and blacker, and soon 
commenced to descend, a sea of murky vapor, rolling down the side 
of the mountain, wave on wave, like an ocean tumbling out of 
heaven. Falling into the chasm, and filling it from top to bottom 
with a thick, black fog, it covered Cataneo's host, and instantly they 
were in night, unable to see either before or behind. They were 
bewildered and stupefied, and could neither advance nor retreat. 

The Waldenses, believing that God had interposed in their behalf, 
and given them power to defeat the enemy, climbed the slopes of the 
Pra, and, coming out of all their hiding-places in its environs, has- 
tened along the familiar paths of the mountain. While the papal 
army stood riveted beneath them, panic-stricken by the double 
calamity of the defile and the mist, the Vaudois tore up the great 
stones and ro'cks, and sent them thundering down into the ravine, 
crushing the papal soldiers where they stood. Then some of the 
Waldenses, sword in hand, boldly entered the chasm and attacked 
them in front, spreading consternation through the entire army. 
They attempted to flee ; but the confusion in their own ranks was 
more fatal than the sword of the Vaudois, or the rocks that, swift as 
an arrow, came bounding down the mountain. Amid the excite- 
ment they ran against one another and threw each other down in 
the struggle. Some were trodden to death ; others were rolled over the- 
precipice, and crushed on the rocks below or drowned in the torrent.. 

History records the fate of one of these invaders, a certain Cap- 
tain Sacquet — a man, it is said, of gigantic stature, from Polonghera, 
in Piedmont. Like his Philistine prototype, he began to curse the 



I S6 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Waldensian dogs ; but while the words were yet in his mouth his 
foot shpped, and he rolled over the precipice into the torrent. His 
body was carried away by the stream, and finally deposited in a deep 
eddy or whirlpool, called, in \\\^ patois of the country, a **tompie," 
from the noise made by its waters. To this day it bears the name 
of the Tonipic dc Sacqiiet, or Gulf of Sacquet. 

For a whole year this cloud of war hung above the ''Valleys," 
and discharged its fury upon the Waldenses, inflicting much suffering 
and loss. The burning of their homes, the devastation of their fields, 
the plundering of their goods, and the massacre of their people were 
great calamities ; but the invaders suffered more than they inflicted. 
Few of the eighteen thousand regular troops, and of an equal num- 
ber of desperadoes, that started out in the campaign, ever returned 
to their homes. Their corpses enriched the mountains and valleys 
they had come to subdue. They were generally cut down one by 
one. Flying parties of Vaudois would suddenly issue from some 
cave known only to themselves, or from the mist in a narrow defile, 
attack and defeat the enemy, and then as suddenly retreat behind 
the protecting rock or into the friendly vapor. Thus it came to pass 
that, in the words of Muston, "this army of invaders vanished from 
:t,he Vaudois mountains as rain in the sands of the desert." 

**God," says Leger, ** turned tlie heart of their prince toward 
this poor people." He sent a prelate to their ''Valleys," to assure 
them of his good will, and intimated his wish to receive their depu- 
ties. Twelve of their more venerable men were sent to Turin, and, 
being admitted into the duke's presence, made such a statement of 
their faith that he candidly confessed that he had been deceived con- 
cerning them, and would not again permit such wrongs to be inflicted 
upon them. He several times remarked that he "had not so virtu- 
ous, so faithful, and so obedient subjects as the Vaudois." He sur- 
prised the deputies by expressing a wish to see some of the Vaudois 
children. Twelve infants, with their mothers, were brought from the 
Valley of Angrogna and presented to the prince. Closely examining 
them, and finding them well-formed, he expressed his pleasure in 
beholding their healthy faces and clear eyes. He had been informed 
that "the Vaudois children were monsters, with only one eye placed 
in the middle of the forehead, four rows of black teeth, and other 
similar deformities." This young ruler, Charles H, was humane and 
wise, and promised the Vaudois that they should not be molested in 
the future. Thus the storm of persecution ceased, A. D. 1489, and 
the Alpine Christians had rest. 



LUTHER DEPARTS FOR ROME. 1 87 



Chapter VII. 

L U THER'S JO URNE V TO R OME. 

AN interesting event in the religious history of Rome was Luther's 
visit to it, A. D. 15 10, or, according to others, A. D. 15 12. 
While meditating in his cell at Erfurt, the sinfulness of his own heart 
and his helplessness as a lost sinner were revealed to him. At Rome 
he was to be shown the vileness of that Church which he still believed 
to be the Church of Christ and the abode of holiness. As is often 
the case, a very trifling circumstance led to results of momentous 
importance both to Luther himself and to Christendom. A quarrel 
having broken out between seven monasteries of the Augustines and 
their vicar general, they agreed to submit the matter to the pope, 
and as Luther was a- young man of eloquence and sagacity, he was 
selected to undertake the task. In imagination we now behold him 
starting for the metropolis of Christendom. As every step brought 
him nearer the "Eternal City," illustrious as the abode of the Caesars, 
and still more illustrious as the abode of the popes, the pulse of the 
young monk no doubt beat quicker, because to him Rome was a 
type of the Holy of Holies. Was not the throne of God's vicar 
there? Did not the oracle of infallibility reside there? Were not 
the consecrated ministers and priests of the Lord dwellers within its 
sacred walls? Did not armies of devout pilgrims and tribes of holy 
anchorites and monks go up thither every year to pay their vows in 
her temples and prostrate themselves at the footstool of the apostles? 
The heart of Luther no doubt was thrilled with deep emotion when 
he thought that his feet would stand within the gates of this thrice 
holy city. 

But, alas! his bright dream was not to be realized at the end of 
his journey; a terrible disenchantment awaited him, or rather a happy 
emancipation from an illusion both enfeebling and pernicious. It 
had imprisoned truth and enchained the nations, and Luther would 
be its captive until this spell was broken. Christendom could not be 
emancipated by blows from a fettered arm. It was necessary that 
the monk should see Rome, not as his dreams had painted, but as 
her own corruptions had made her. He must behold her with his 
own eyes, because a description of her moral degradation by another 



1 88 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

would have been discredited by him. The more profound the idol- 
atrous reverence that he felt as he approached the city, the more 
resolute would be his purpose when recrossing her threshold not to 
leave of that wicked and tyrannical power one stone upon another. 

Luther passed over the Alps and descended upon the fertile plains 
of Lombardy. At the present time the traveler proceeds with ease 
and pleasure along magnificent highways through the snows and rocks 
that form the northern wall of Italy; but the German monk was com- 
pelled to scale this rampart by rugged, narrow, and dangerous tracks. 
The sublime scene that met his eye and regaled his spirits must 
have elevated and expanded his mind. There was a charm to him as 
to others in the rapid transition from the homely German plains and 
the frowning Alps to the brilliant sky, the voluptuous air, and the 
smiling landscape, bright with fruits and flowers which burst upon 
his sight when he had accomplished his descent. The ideality of the 
Italian began to mingle with the robustness of the Teuton. Luther, 
weary in body and desiring to refresh himself a few days, entered a 
monastery situated on the banks of the Po. He was struck with 
wonder at the splendor of the establishment, whose annual revenue 
of thirty-six thousand ducats Avas all expended in feeding, clothing, 
and lodging the monks. This enormous sum enabled them to live 
in elegance. Their apartments were sumptuous in the extreme, being 
inlaid with marble, adorned with paintings and filled with rich furni- 
ture. Their clothing was equally luxurious and delicate, consisting 
mostly of silks and velvet. They sat down daily at a table loaded 
with dishes containing the most exquisite and skillfully cooked food. 
The German monk in his native land had been accustomed to live in 
a bare cell, and at times his provision for each day was only a herring 
and a small piece of bread. He was greatly astonished, but remained 
silent. When Friday came he expected that, as faithful sons of the 
Church, they would obey her commands and not taste flesh ; but he 
was shocked to find the table groaning under the same abundance as 
before, and dishes of meat as on other days. Luther could no longer 
restrain himself, but cried out: "Such things may not be eaten. The 
pope has forbidden them." The monks opened their eyes in aston- 
ishment on the rude German, and were indignant at his boldness. 
This reproof did not spoil their appetite, but they feared that the 
stranger might report their manner of life at headquarters. While 
they were consulting together how to obviate this danger, the porter 
of the establishment, a humane man, informed Luther that he would 
incur a great risk by remaining there. After receiving this friendly 



LUTHER IN BOLOGNA. 



189 



counsel he resolved to profit by it while health permitted, and with- 
out delay departed from the monastery. 

The monk, traveling on foot, next came to Bologna, "the throne 
of the Roman law," where he became dangerously sick. In addition 
to his bodily suffering, he experienced great mental depression from 
those feelings of melancholy natural to one who expects to die in a 
foreign land. Then, to make his anguish still more intolerable, his 
religious condition alarmed him. The judgment-seat rose up before 
him, and the thought of appearing in the presence of God filled his 
soul with dread. The old terror and anguish, though less violent, 
returned to him. As he waited for death he thought he heard a 
voice saying to him: "The just shall live by faith." So vivid was 
the impression it made upon him that Luther believed the voice was 
from heaven. This was the second time this passage of Scripture 
had been addressed to him by some invisible power. While lectur- 
ing in his chair at Wittemberg on the Epistle to the Romans, he 
had come to these same words: "The just shall live by faith," and 
they impressed him so deeply that he was compelled to pause and 
ponder over them. He asked himself again and again. What do they 
mean? There was only one meaning in them, and it was simply 
this, that the just have a new life which is derived from faith. But 
faith on whom, and on what? 
On whom but on Christ, and on 
what but his atoning merits as the 
only ground of salvation? If that 
be so, pardon and eternal life are 
not of works, but of faith ; they are 
the free gift of God to the sinner 
for Christ's sake. 

So had Luther reasoned when 
these words first penetrated his 
soul, and so did he again reason 
in his sick-room at Bologna. They 
were a needful admonition to him 
now that he was approaching a 
city where endless rites and cere- 
monies had been invented to en- 
able men to live by works. His 

sickness and anguish had been the means of teaching him the first ele- 
ments of life and the only one source of holiness. He learned that 
this holiness springs up in the heart where faith is enthroned, and 




GIOTTO. 



190 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

therefore is not restricted to any soil, any system, or any rite. Its 
source was not in Rome, but in the Bible; its bestower was not the 
pope, but the Holy Spirit. "The just shall/live by faith." As he 
stood at the gates of death these words seemed to shed a light all 
around him. He arose from his bed healed both in body and soul. 
Resuming his journey, he traversed the Apennines, and experienced 
no doubt after his sickness the invigorating influence of their health- 
ful breezes and the fragrance of their dells, bright with the blossoms 
of early Summer. Crossing this rugged chain of mountains, he de- 
scended into that delicious valley, where Florence sits gracefully on 
the banks of the Arno amid lovely cypress and olive groves, and 
under a slcy where light lends beauty to every object on which it 
falls. Here Luther made his next resting place. 

At that time the "Etrurian Athens," as Florence has been called, 
was in its first glory. Its many magnificent and sumptuous edifices 
had been recently erected and still reflected their pristine beauty and 
freshness. Already Brunelleschi had hung his dome — the largest in 
the world — in mid-air; already Giotto had raised his Campanile, whose 
great height, elegant form, and variously colored marbles make it the 
prominent feature of the city. Already the Baptistery had been con- 
structed with its bronze doors which Michael Angelo declared to be 
"worthy of being the gates of Paradise." When the future reformer 
visited it, Florence was adorned with other monuments and works of 
art. Having been familiar with only the comparatively homel}^ and 
unattractive architecture of a northern land, he could not be indiffer- 
ent to these splendid creations of genius which he beheld in Italy. 
Wood was then often used in Germany and England in the erection 
of dwellings, but the Italians built with marble. 

As a scholar, Luther could appreciate many other things in the 
Etrurian capital. It was the cradle of the Renaissance. In the pre- 
vious century the house of Medici had risen to prominence. Cosmo, 
the founder of the family, had amassed immense riches in commerce, 
and, being passionately fond of letters and arts, he freely expended 
his wealth in the magnificent patronage of scholars and artists. He 
and his son Lorenzo welcomed to his superb villa, on the sides of 
Fiesole, lovers of letters from every land, who were entertained with 
princely hospitality. To this delightful retreat came learned men 
from England and the north of Europe, and even from the East, to 
meet the poets and philosophers of Italy. With the city, the Arno, 
and the cypress and olive clad vale beneath them, these eminent 
scholars would assemble in groups in the alcoves of the gardens, or 



LUTHER S REFLECTIONS. I9I 

walk on the terraces, sometimes prolonging their conversation on the 
new learning and the renovated age, which literature was producing, 
until the shadows of night concealed the domes of Florence at their 
feet and brought out the stars in the calm azure overhead. Thus 
the city of the Medici became the center of that intellectual and lit- 
erary revival which was then radiating over Europe and heralding a 
day of more glorious and blessed light than any which philosophy 
and letters have ever shed. How sudden and desolating the change 
to Italy when this light was extinguished, and her morning turned 
into the shadow of death ! 

But Florence had very recently been the scene of events of which 
doubtless Luther had heard, and which must have touched a deeper 
chord in his heart than its grand edifices and literary glory could 
possibly awaken. Only fourteen years had elapsed since Savonarola 
had been burned on the Piazza della Gran' Ducca, for upholding the 
supreme authority of the Scriptures, denouncing the corruptions of 
the Church, and teaching that men are to be saved, not by good 
works, but by the expiatory sufferings of Christ. Luther had learned 
these same truths in his cell ; their light, shining from the pages of 
the Bible, had illuminated his darkened mind; the Holy Spirit, with 
the iron pen of anguish, had engraven them upon his heart; he had 
proclaimed them to listening crowds in his wooden chapel at Wit- 
temberg, and on this spot in Florence, already marked by a statue 
of Neptune, a brother monk had been burned alive for preaching in 
Italy the same doctrines which he had been advocating in Saxony. 
He regarded the martyrdom of Savonarola as an augury of both 
good and evil. He was encouraged by the fact that a brother in this 
far-distant countr}^ by the study of the same book, had reached the 
same conclusion that he arrived at in Germany concerning the way 
of salvation. Luther was cheered, moreover, to think that the 
Florentine monk had been enabled to seal his testimony for the 
truth with his blood. 

But the stake of Savonarola might be differently interpreted, and 
to some was prophetic of other stakes to be planted in the future. 
The death of the noble confessor indicated that the ancient hatred 
of the darkness to the light was as bitter as ever, and that the enemy 
would not abdicate without a mighty struggle. Truth was not to 
progress peacefully amid the plaudits of the multitude ; but, on the 
contrary, her path would be through tempest and conflict. She was 
compelled to win at a fearful cost every step of her advance, and 
before she could rei";n she must suffer and bleed. 



192 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

These were among the instructive lessons which Luther learned 
on the spot to which, no doubt, he often came to meditate and pray. 
The author, when visiting Florence in 1 871, was shown the Bible of 
Savonarola, which is preserved in the library of San Lorenzo. His 
small, elegant handwriting may be seen covering the broad margin 
of its leaves. After his martyrdom his disciples were accustomed to 
come secretly and kiss the spot where he had been burned. When 
the reigning duke, Pietro de Medici, ascertained this fact he resolved 
that the practice which gave him annoyance should be discontinued, 
and accordingly erected on the spot a statue of Neptune, with a 
fountain falling into a circular basin of water, and sea -nymphs, 
satyrs, and tritons clustering on the brim. The device of the duke, 
however, has only rendered more memorable, instead of obliterating, 
the event of the martyrdom and the spot where it occurred. 

Without doubt, another point of anxious inquiry to Luther was 
to know how many disciples Savonarola had left behind him in the 
city in which he had poured out his blood. The answer to this im- 
portant question was not encouraging. The zeal of the Florentines had 
abated. They saw that it was hard to enter into life as Savonarola 
had done, and, therefore, were not inclined to travel the thorny path 
of persecution which possibly might lead to the narrow gate of mar- 
tyrdom. The admirers of the sainted monk praised him, but they 
had not the courage to imitate him. Florence might have been the 
cradle of an evangelical Renaissance if her sons, who, under the voice 
of their great orator and preacher, seemed to be not far from the 
kingdom of heaven, had not drawn back ; but when brought face to 
face with the stake they crouched down before the twofold burden 
of sensuality and superstition. When Luther commenced his jour- 
ney he believed that a peculiar sanctity sprang spontaneously, as it 
were, out of the holy soil of Italy ; but so far he had "failed to dis- 
cover it. The farther he advanced into the country, the more he was 
shocked at the impiety and irreverence which characterized all ranks, 
especially the * ' religious. " There appeared to be a universal relaxation 
of morals. The land was defiled with avarice, pride, luxury, abomina- 
ble crimes and vices, and, to crown all, ** sacred things" were mocked. 
Luther was delighted with the balmy climate of Italy ; but he ob- 
served that, while its genial influence caused the fruits of the earth 
to grow with a luxuriance unknown to his northern home, it nour- 
ished with equal luxuriance the voluptuous appetites of the body and 
debasing passions of the soul. It was not strange, therefore, that 
he should sigh for the comparative piety, simplicity, frugality, and 



CAMPAGNA DI ROMA. 1 93 

temperance of his dear father-land. But he would soon be in Rome, 
and the thought consoled him. In that holy city Christianity, in the 
spotless beauty of her apostolic youth, would stand before him. 
Surely no monks in the costly apparel of silk and velvet would be 
seen there. He was also confident that conventual cells, having 
walls aglow with marbles, gildings, and paintings, and their floors 
crowded with sumptuous tables, damask couches, and curious furni- 
ture inlaid with silver and mother-of-pearl, could be found in many 
Italian cities, but not in Rome. It seemed sacrilegious to him, no 
doubt, to even think that priests who tarry by the wine-cup, or par- 
take on fast -days of meat, could dwell in the sacred metropolis. 
Instead of the sound of the harp, the lute, and the viol, he expected 
to hear hymns of praise in the monasteries of Rome — matins wel- 
coming the day, and vesper songs speeding its departure. To Luther 
it must have appeared impossible for any thing that was defiling to 
enter the holy place where sat God's vicegerent. He was eager to 
enjoy its select and devout society, and there forget the dark scenes 
which made him sad on the way thither. 

Leaving Florence, he hastened toward Rome, on the last stage 
of his journey. In imagination we behold him on his way, now 
descending the southern slopes on which Viterbo is situated, and 
at every short distance straining his eyes if haply he may dis- 
cover on the broad plain at his feet some signs of her who once 
was ''Queen of Nations." On his right the blue Mediterranean 
laved the shore of Latium ; on his left rose the "triple -topped 
Soracte " and the "purple Apennine," on whose crests white towns 
were hanging, and on whose sides olive woods and forests of pine 
were clinging — this mountain range running on in a magnificent wall 
of craggy peaks until it fades from the eye in the southern horizon. 
Luther is now traversing the celebrated Campagna di Roma. 

Whoever crosses this plain at the present day finds it herbless, 
silent, and desolate. It once nourished multitudes of men, but they 
have perished from its bosom. In its prosperous days numerous and 
populous towns crowned every conical height that dots its surface, 
but now they are buried in its soil. Where orange groves and olive 
woods once flourished, there reeds, wiry grass, and thistles now grow. 
Its roads, which were in former ages crowded with armies, procon- 
suls, and embassadors, are now deserted and almost untrodden. This 
great plain was once adorned with many magnificent structures and 
cultivated gardens, but the only memorials of its pristine glory which 
remain are heaps of brick-work with the marble peeled off, broken 



THE PILGRIM'S ARRIVAL. I95 

columns protruding through the soil, and substructions of temples 
and tombs which have become the lair of the fox or the lurking 
place of the brigand. But at the time of Luther's visit the Campagna 
di Roma was not the treeless, blighted, devastated expanse that it is 
in our day. Many memorials of decay no doubt met his eye as he 
passed along. The frightful scars of war had defaced the landscape, 
and the indolence and ignorance of the inhabitants had produced even 
worse effects upon the plain, but in the sixteenth century it had 
not become so deserted of men and so forsaken of its cities as it is 
now. The engravings of Peranesi, which are nearly two hundred 
years old, represent the country around Rome as tolerably well peo- 
pled and cultivated. The land then enjoyed what is at present almost 
unknown to it — seed-time and harvest. Besides, Luther beheld it in 
the beginning of Summer, the light of an Italian sun rendering the 
young verdure which clothed its surface still more charming, and 
revealing to the itinerant monk a pleasant scene. But his thoughts 
were then engrossed with one main object — he was within sight of 
the metropolis of Christendom. The first thing that would naturally 
catch his eye was the heights of Monte Maria, adjoining the Vatican, 
for the cupola of St. Peter's was not yet built; the long, ragged line 
formed by the buildings and towers of the city would next come into 
view. When Luther first beheld the domes of the sacred place he 
was thrilled with those emotions which every one, who has the first 
sight of it feels, yet few hearts have ever been so deeply stirred as 
the German monk's, for he fell upon his knees and exclaimed, **Holy 
Rome, I salute thee!" 

After traveling many a weary league his feet stood at last within 
the gates of the "Eternal City." He persuaded himself to believe 
that he breathed a holier air, and was in the midst of a righteous 
people. Every moment the Nazarites of the Lord in their long robes 
passed by, while the chimes, which pealed forth all the day and were 
not silent even in the night, indicated that prayers and praises were 
continually ascending in the temples of worship. The decay and 
ruin visible in different directions deeply impressed the mind of 
Luther. Glorious palaces and noble monuments rose on every side 
of him ; but, to his astonishment, in the midst of these were heaps of 
rubbish, the remains of the once imperial glory of the city, when in 
its palmy days it was adorned with the products of art, the creations 
of genius, and the spoils of war. These physical ruins gave him 
some idea of Rome's greatness under her pagan emperors and con- 
suls, and their defaced and mutilated condition excited in his heart 

14 



196 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

the pro roundest veneration. In his thoughts they were associated 
with the immortal names of the great men whose deeds had thrilled 
him and whose writings had instructed him in his native land. While 
iooking at the stupendous ruins of the Coliseum he was reminded of 
the martyrs who contended on that spot with wild beasts and died 
in the triumphs of that faith which he had recently embraced. The 
mighty temple of St. Peter and the Vatican, where the Vicar of 
Christ had erected his throne, were the more sacred to Luther, 
because they stood where the martyrs were burned "as torches to 
illumine the darkness of the night." As he wandered through the 
city he remembered the fact that Paul's feet also had walked over it, 
and that his letter to the brethren there had been opened and read 
by them, teaching not only them, but even himself, sixteen centuries 
later, the important truth that "the just shall live by faith." 

The first weeks which Luther spent in Rome were occupied in 
visiting the holy places and saying mass at the altars of the more 
holy of its churches; for, though converted in heart and trusting 
in tlie one true Mediator, he had an imperfect knowledge of evangel- 
ical religion, and had not fully emerged from the darkness of Roman- 
ism. The law of life in the soul may not be able suddenly to produce 
an outward course of liberty. There may be a reformation of ideas 
while the old habits and acts of legal belief yield slowly and for a 
time survive. It was difficult for Luther, or even Christendom, to 
find the way out of a night of twelve centuries. At the present time 
that night still broods over a large part of Europe. The physical 
deformities of Rome were not the only stumbling-blocks in Luther's 
way. He soon discovered that these scars and other outward blem- 
ishes, which war or barbarism had produced, were as nothing com- 
pared with the hideous moral corruptions that existed beneath the 
surface. The impiety, luxury, and lewdness which shocked him in 
the first Italian towns he had entered, and which he had beheld at 
almost every place since crossing the Alps, were all repeated in Ronie 
on a scale of seven-fold magnitude. The enchantment that had sur- 
rounded Luther was suddenly dispelled. Instead of a paradise he 
found a pandemonium. His practice of saying mass at all the popu- 
lar churches brought him into daily contact with the priests, whom 
he met and heard behind the scenes. Their conversation startled 
him, and he could not conceal from himself the fact, though it caused 
him unspeakable sorrow, that these men were simply playing a part, 
and that they privately held in contempt and treated with mockery 
the very rites which they publicly celebrated with so much apparent 



ROMISH BLASPHEMIES. I97 

devotion. While he was terribly shocked at their profane levity, 
they were no less astonished at his solemn credulity, deriding him as 
a dull German, who did not possess enough genius to be a skeptic nor 
sufficient cunning to be a hypocrite. Indeed, they regarded him as 
a fossilized specimen of a fanaticism which generally prevailed in the 
twelfth century, but which they were amazed to find still existing in 
the sixteenth. 

While Luther was saying mass one day in a prominent church 
with his usual solemnity, the priests at the neighboring altars, who 
had sung seven masses to his one, reproved what they considered his 
delay with these words of blasphemy: "Make haste, and send Our 
Lady back to her Son." To them ''Lady and Son" were worth only 
the money they brought. But these were the common priests, and 
not the true representatives of the faith and piety of the Church. 
Hence Luther resolved to mingle with the holy dignitaries, but his 
belief in their purity must also be destroyed by an acquaintance with 
them. On a certain occasion he was in a company of prelates who, 
supposing the German monk to be a man of the same easy faith and 
morals as themselves, lifted the veil higher than prudence would dic- 
tate by openly expressing their disbelief in the mysteries of their 
Church, and shamelessly boasting of their shrewdness in deceiving the 
people. Instead of the words, ''Hoc est meinn corpus,'' etc., the words 
at the utterance of which the bread is changed, as the Church of 
Rome teaches, into the flesh and blood of Christ, these prelates, 
according to their own statement, were accustomed to say, ''Panis es. 
et panis vianebis.'' etc., '' Bread thou art and bread thou wilt remain," 
and then, elevating the Host, they were amused at seeing the people 
bow down and worship. These declarations of the prominent priests 
filled Luther with inexpressible horror. A fearful abyss seemed to 
yawn suddenly beneath him, but it exerted a salutary influence upon 
him. His eyes were opened, and he was now convinced that he 
must either renounce belief in Christianity or in Rome. He could 
not reject the first, because his faith in it had been too deeply rooted 
by his struggles at Erfurt. The Church of Rome must, therefore, be 
abandoned ; but, while he was resolved to separate himself from her 
corrupt clergy, he was not yet ready to give up her doctrines and 
ceremonies. 

Instead of a city of prayers and alms, Rome was full of mocking 
hypocrisy and defiant skepticism. Among the clergy, where contrite 
hearts and holy lives are naturally expected, Luther found shameless 
revelry and glaring impiety. Borgia had lately closed his infamous 



198 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

pontificate, and the warlike Julius II was now on the papal throne. 
The city was patrolled every night by a powerful police force, which 
was empowered to inflict summary justice on offenders, and, in some 
cases, the latter were hanged at the first post, or thrown into the 
Tiber. But all the vigilance of the police could not secure tlie peace 
and safety of the streets. Robberies and murders occurred almost 
every night. ''If there be a hell," said Luther, ''Rome is built 
over it." And yet it was in Rome, in the midst of all this darkness, 
that the light of truth shone fully into the mind of the reformer. 
There, under peculiar circumstances, that grand central idea, on 
which his own life and also the whole of that Reformation which 
God permitted him to accomplish, were based — the doctrine of justi- 
fication by faith alone — rose upon him in its full-orbed splendor. 
Desiring to improve every hour of his sojourn in Rome, he was con- 
stantly employed in performing religious acts, because he believed 
that they had a tenfold degree of merit when done on the sacred soil 
and at the privileged altars and shrines of the city.. To nourish his 
piety and return a holier man than he came, Luther multiplied his 
good works, for as yet he saw but dimly the sole agency of faith in 
the justification of the sinner. 

While under the influence of these feelings, he one day visited the 
Church of the Lateran. It has always been held in peculiar rever- 
ence from its venerable antiquity, and especially from its having been 
long regarded as the mother church of Christendom. The original 
edifice, founded by Constantine, was greatly injured by fire in the 
fourteenth century ; and it has since been so altered and enlarged 
that hardly a stone of the old fabric remains ; but, as there has never 
been a total demolition and reconstruction, the chain of association 
remains unbroken, and the reverend form of the first Christian 
emperor, whose statue stands in the vestibule, is still the presiding 
genius of the place. The facade is of a style of architecture kindred 
to that of St. Peter's, but superior in beauty and simplicity, the 
perpendicular of the columns and pilasters which support the massive 
entablature being broken only by the horizontal line of the balconies 
running across nearly in the middle. The interior is rich and impos- 
ing, though not in the purest taste. The features of the basilica 
have disappeared, as the columns which once separated the nave 
from the aisles and imprisoned in piers, patched over with ornaments 
in stucco and marble. Twelve colossal statues of the apostles in 
marble — six on either hand — occupy niches scooped out of these piers. 
The execution of these works fell upon evil days in art, and they are 




SCALA SANCTA. 



200 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

characterized by flutter and extravagance. The impressions of the 
writer, who recently visited this interesting basiHca, are expressed by 
HilHard, the distinguished American lawyer and connoisseur, who 
Avas in Rome thirty years ago. Speaking of the interior of St. John 
Lateran, he says: **The draperies look as if the wearers" (the 
apostles) ''had been out in a high wind, and suddenly stiffened into 
stone ; and their attitudes are painful to the eye, for they seem to be 
maintained by muscular effort. But they show great skill and mechan- 
ical cleverness. They are in art what Darwin's ' Botanic Garden ' 
is in poetry ; and, in making this comparison I recognize the merits 
both of the statues and the poem." The visitor to the basilica will 
be reminded of those Gothic forms so rarely seen in Rome, when he 
beholds the high altar of gilded bronze, resting on four columns of 
granite, and resembling the diminished spire of a cathedral. The 
venerable mosaics of the tribune, executed by a contemporary of 
Cimabue, show in the attitude and expression of the figures the 
gleams of the new dawn of art, but they are not in harmony with 
the objects around them. 

To the devout Roman Catholic this venerable edifice has always 
been sacred. In it Pope Sylvester II was buried, A. D. 1003 ; but 
neither this fact nor the artistic attractions drew Luther to it. He 
went there to ascend the Scala Santa, or Holy Stairs, which tradition 
says Christ descended on retiring from the hall of judgment, where 
Pilate had passed sentence upon him. It is said that these stairs, 
which are of marble, were conveyed from Jerusalem to Rome by 
angels, who have so often rendered similar services to the Church — 
''Our Lady's House" at Loretto, for example. The stairs, so trans- 
ported, were enshrined in the palace of the Lateran, and every one 
who climbs them on his knees merits an indulgence of fifteen years 
for each ascent. The steps became so worn by both lips and knees, 
as to necessitate wooden coverings, which have been replaced several 
times. They can only be ascended on one's knees ; but, fortunately for 
curious unbelievers, there is a narrower staircase on either side, by 
which they can mount, and by which the faithful may descend. 
During any morning of "Holy Week" may here be seen a throng 
of devotees, climbing with prayerful patience, and leaving kisses 
on every step. These pilgrims are not always solemn, as Dr. Wylie, 
in 185 1, saw some peasants from Rimini ascending and, at the same 
time, enlivening the performance with roars of laughter, for it is the 
devout act, not the devout feeling, that earns the indulgence. A 
French gentleman and lady, with their little daughter, also made the 



POPE JULIUS II, 201 

ascent, but in a more decorous manner. The writer several years 
ago witnessed a large number performing the same ceremony, and, 
while the Protestant Christian visits the place because of its associa- 
tion with Luther's conversion, he beholds the scene enacted there, 
and with a sad heart pities the credulity of the superstitious Roman 
Catholic. 

Luther, not doubting either the legend concerning the stairs or 
the merit which the bulls of the popes attached tq the holy act of 
climbing them, began the work with earnestness. While slowly 
mounting upward in the appointed way, securing for himself a year's 
indulgence at every step, he was startled by a sudden voice, which 
seemed as if it spoke from heaven, and said, *'The just shall live by 
faith." Luther started to his feet in amazement. This was the third 
time these same words had been conveyed into his mind with such 
emphasis that they appeared to be uttered with a voice of thunder. 
Its tones were now louder than ever, so that he grasped more fully 
the great truth which it announced, and under its inspiration departed 
from Rome to inaugurate the great Reformation. 



Chapter VIII. 

THE PAPACY AND ITALY. 



THE voice of Savonarola had been silenced by the flames, but 
his eloquent words, demanding a reformation of the Church, 
both in its head and members, lingered in the hearts of the people. 
This earnest, fearless monk expressed the sentiment that had been 
secretly, yet surely advancing in Italy evei; since the Council of Pisa, 
A. D. 1409. Soon after the beginning of the sixteenth century, or 
in A. D. 15 1 1, Pope Julius II was compelled to convene a council at 
Pisa. Louis XII, king of France, provoked by the insults he had 
received from this violent pontiff, meditated revenge, and even caused 
a medal to be struck, with a menacing inscription, expressing his 
determination to overturn the power of Rome, which was repre- 
sented by the title of Babylon on this coin. Several cardinals also, 
encouraged by the protection of this monarch and the Emperor 
Maximilian I, endeavored, in this council, to correct and reform the 
errors and corruptions of a superstitious Church. The decrees that 
were passed during its sittings at Pisa were so many rays of light 



202 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



shining through the darkness that then enveloped Italy and the 
remainder of Europe. 

The pope, on the contrary, relying on his own strength and on 
the power of his allies, beheld these threatening appearances without 
the least concern, and even treated them with mockery and con- 
tempt. He did not neglect, however, the proper methods of render- 
ing ineffectual the efforts of his enemies, and therefore gave orders 
for a council to meet in the palace of the Lateran at Rome, A. D. 
15 12, in which the decrees of the Council of Pisa were condemned 
and annulled in the most injurious and insulting terms. But Julius 
II could not repress the demand for reform which was made in this 
assembly. Among the prominent orations were those delivered by 
Egidio of Viterbo, general of the order of Augustinians, and Gian- 
francesco Pico, the learned and pious count of Mirandula ; both of 
whom denounced, with singular freedom and boldness, the abuses 
which threatened the ruin of the Church and the utter extinction 

of religion. The pope, no 
doubt, would have hurled 
the most formidable anathe- 
mas against Louis and other 
princes had not death re- 
moved him in the midst of 
his ambitious and vindictive 
projects. 

He was succeeded by Leo 
X, A. D. 15 13, who was of 
the family of the Medicis. 
This pontiff was a lover and 
patron of literature and the 
arts. A profound scholar 
himself, he also protected 
literary men, and devoted his 
time to conversations with 
them and to the pursuit of 
pleasure. He disliked to be 
burdened with solicitude and 
care, and exhibited the ut- 
most impatience when duty 
but he never neglected the grand object, 
which the most of his predecessors had so much at heart — the pro- 
motion and advancement of the papacy in wealth and splendor. 








imposed severe labor 



GENERAL DISCONTENT. 203 

Julius II, during the sitting of the Council of Lateran, had been 
summoned to appear before a higher tribunal, leaving many impor- 
tant questions to be decided by Leo X, who opposed every measure 
that had the least tendency to favor the reformation of the Church. 
He went still further, and in a conference with Francis I, king of 
France, at Bologna, induced that monarch to abrogate the ** Prag- 
matic Sanction," so long odious to the popes of Rome, and to sub- 
stitute in its place another body of laws more advantageous to the 
papacy, which, under the title of the Concordat, his subjects were 
compelled to obey, though with the utmost indignation and reluctance. 
The corruptions prevailing in the Romish Church were con- 
demned, not only by many of the delegates in the general councils, 
but also by the satirical effusions of the press. The reigning pon- 
tiffs, however, in the full enjoyment of wealth and luxury, and con- 
scious of absolute authority, regarded these censures with indifference ; 
but at length complaints were heard in the pulpit, and the people 
began to murmur. This mode of attack could not be safely tol- 
erated ; and, accordingly, Leo X issued a bull, A. D. 15 16, in 
which he reprimanded certain irregularities, and prohibited the dis- 
cussion of the coming of Antichrist. It was too late. During the 
following year a cry was raised in the heart of Germany, and the 
ominous sounds. Antichrist and Babylon, reverberated from every 
corner of Europe, and awoke the astonished inmates of the Vatican 
from the security in which they had slumbered for ages. It was not 
strange that ecclesiastical grievances should call forth such general 
complaint and remonstrance in Italy, where they existed in an aggra- 
vated form. The vices of the clergy, and their neglect of religious 
instruction, produced their legitimate results. The people remained 
in ignorance, ecclesiastical offices were sold, and sacred things pros- 
tituted to worldly purposes. Popish writers, and persons whose 
official situations admitted them into all the secrets of the court of 
Rome, confessed that it had become more corrupt than any of the 
secular courts of Europe. The popes, in their spirit and character, 
were merely secular princes, and the Romish hierarchy obtained the 
degrading reputation of being immoral and unprincipled. Cabals, 
intrigue, and bribery reigned at Rome. The ministers were united 
in their efforts to deceive the world ; but often their personal inter- 
ests clashed, and they labored to supplant one another. 

The occupants of the papal chair, for some time before the Ref- 
ormation, openly practiced vices which the increasing knowledge of 
the age should have condemned. During the pontificate of Sixtus 



204 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

IV a terrible spectacle was presented to the world. The pope, a 
cardinal, and an archbishop were associated with a band of ruffians 
to murder two men who were an honor to their country ; and they 
even agreed to perpetrate this crime during a season of hospitality, 
within the sanctuary of a Christian church, and at the signal of the 
elevation of the host. The insatiable avarice and profligate manners 
of Alexander VI were so notorious that Sanazzaro has compared 
him to the greatest monsters of antiquity — to Nero, Caligula, and 
Heliogabalus. Julius II was more ambitious to be distinguished as a 
soldier than a bishop, and by his turbulence Italy was in a state of 
continual excitement and warfare. Leo X, though celebrated for his 
elegant accomplishments and his patronage of literature and the arts, 
disgraced the papal chair by his voluptuousness and luxury. To 
gratify his love of pleasure, and his passion for magnificent extrava- 
gance, he resorted to such methods in securing money as were a 
reproach to Christianity. 

The following description of the papal court, by an Italian who 
lived in the age of the Reformation, is significant: *' Having raised 
themselves to earthly power on this basis and by these methods, the 
popes gradually lost sight of the salvation of souls and divine pre- 
cepts, and bending their thoughts to worldly grandeur, and making 
use of their spiritual authority solely as an instrument and tool to 
advance their temporal, they began to lay aside the appearance of 
bishops and assume the state of secular princes. Their concern was 
no longer to maintain sanctity of life, to promote religion, or to show 
charity to mankind ; but to accumulate treasures, to raise armies, to 
wage war against Christians. The sacred mysteries were celebrated 
with thoughts and hands stained with blood ; and, with the view of 
drawing money from every quarter, new edicts were issued, new arts 
invented, new stratagems laid ; spiritual censures were fulminated, 
and all things, sacred and profane, sold without distinction and with- 
out shame. The immense riches amassed in this way, and scattered 
among the courtiers, were followed by pomp, luxury, licentiousness, 
and the vilest and most abominable lusts. No care was taken to 
maintain the dignity of the pontificate ; no thought bestowed on the 
character of those who should succeed to it ; the reigning pope 
sought only how he might raise his sons, nephews, and other rela- 
tions to immoderate wealth, and even to principalities and kingdoms; 
and, instead of conferring ecclesiastical dignities and emoluments on 
the virtuous and deserving, he either sold them to the best bidder or 
lavished them on those who promised to be most subservient to his 



THE PREVALENCE OF SKEPTICISM. 205 

ambition, avarice, and voluptuousness. Though these things had 
eradicated from the minds of men all that reverence which was once 
felt for the popes, yet their authority was still sustained to a certain 
degree by the imposing and potent influence of the name of religion, 
together with the means which they possessed of gratifying princes 
and their courtiers by bestowing on them dignities and other ecclesi- 
astical favors. Presuming on the respect which men entertained for 
their office — aware that any prince who took up arms against them 
incurred general odium and exposed himself to the attack of other 
powers, and knowing that if victorious they could make their own 
terms, and if vanquished they would escape on easy conditions — the 
pontiffs abandoned themselves to their ruling passion of aggrandizing 
their friends, and proved for a long time the instruments of exciting 
wars and spreading conflagrations over the whole of Italy." The 
productions of this writer sometimes exhibit a copiousness that re- 
minds us of Livy, and a spirit of indignation against tyranny like 
that which animates the pages of Tacitus. The censors of the press 
in Italy would not allow the work to be published until the above 
extract was stricken out. 

At this time there existed in Italy numerous and serious difficul- 
ties, which were unfavorable to the reception of divine truth and the 
cause of ecclesiastical reform. The people were not superstitously 
devoted to the Roman See, and the Italian republics during the 
Middle Ages manifested a degree of religious independence that was 
remarkable; but this reaction against the papacy introduced a skep- 
ticism which was not less hostile to Protestant Christianit}'. The 
sagacious Italians had at an early period discovered that the claims 
of the popes, so long enveloped in mystery, were without founda- 
tion, and their esteem for the occupants of the papal chair did not 
increase after a close inspection of their lives and the motives ^^•hich 
actuated them. The people of Italy, by their proximity to the Vat- 
ican, had a good opportunity to prosecute this investigation ; and the 
result was the eradication from their minds of those feelings of ven- 
eration for the popes which were entertained in other countries. 
The established forms of the Church continued to receive external 
respect ; but the prevailing corruption produced an indifference con- 
cerning religion which, on the revival of letters, became real skep- 
ticism. It would seem to be an easy matter to sever a people in this 
condition from the Romish Church ; and yet none are more difficult 
to impress with the truth than those who practice the external rites 
of religion, but are ignorant of its inner life. The pride of the 



206 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

human mind is hostile to the simple and spiritual doctrines of the 
Gospel ; and, though men may be emancipated from prejudices, yet 
when their hearts are dead to religious feeling they readily support 
established systems of error, and as bitterly persecute the truth as 
the most superstitious and bigoted. 

If before the sixteenth century there were few heretics in Italy, 
or if those who deviated from the popular faith were less observed or 
less severely punished there than in other countries, it was because 
the people did not trouble themselves about the matter. As a gen- 
eral rule, the Italians were not attached to the Roman Church either 
b}' a lively faith or an ardent enthusiasm. The sentiments of their 
hearts and the convictions of their understandings did not approve 
its principles. The educated classes felt a higher regard for the writ- 
ings of Aristotle or Plato than for the Bible or the teachings of the 
Christian Fathers ; while the multitude, always moved by the sensu- 
ous and the imaginative, were attracted to the services of the Church, 
because its temples were magnificent and its religious festivals grand. 
But Avhile the Italians were Avithout religious principle and devotion, 
their attachment to the Romish See had been strengthened, for more 
than a century before the Reformation, by national vanity. The 
wealth and importance of the city of Rome had been greatly dimin- 
ished by the removal of the papal court to Avignon ; but after the 
return of the popes to their ancient seat, and the recovery of the 
pontificate from the serious wound inflicted on it by the schism of 
the anti- popes, the Romans believed that their former distinction 
would be restored. The ancient glory of Italy as the mistress of the 
world had departed, never to return ; but, in their opinion, the loss 
was compensated by the noble position she now occupied as the 
head of Christendom. The Italians generally shared this patriotic 
feeling, and while they were conscious of the corrupt state of the 
Church, their regard for the national interest constrained them to 
defend it. Accordingly, when the councils of Pisa, Constance, and 
Basle attacked the corruptions of the Roman court, and endeavored 
to abridge its extensive authority, the Italians opposed these reform- 
atory movements. The pontiffs were accused of "Italian vices," 
and the people considered themselves dishonored as a nation by such 
invectives. It was natural, therefore, that they should seek to palli- 
ate these evil practices. 

The popes obtained popular favor by fostering this patriotic spirit. 
They resolved that the power which they had gradually acquired 
over the nations of the West should be productive ; and they adopted 



THE D O MI NIC A N CONTR O VERS Y. 20/ 

a policy which directed the wealth of Europe through various chan- 
nels to Rome, from which it was distributed over the entire country. 
The first year's produce of all ecclesiastical livings after every va- 
cancy, called annatSy came into their hands, together with large sums 
of money for the confirmation of bishops, and for the gift of archi- 
episcopal palls. 



Chapter IX. 

ITALY RECEIVING LIGHT FROM GERMANY. 

THE attention of the Italians was directed to the important ques- 
tion of reform in the beginning of the sixteenth centur}^ by a 
controversy which excited a deep interest in Germany for several 
years, and finally reached the papal court for decision. A baptized 
Jew of Cologne, named Pfefferkorn, an intimate friend of the Domin- 
ican inquisitor, Hochstraten, assisted by the monks of his order, 
succeeded in persuading the Emperor Maximilian to issue a decree 
ordaining all Jewish books, with the exception of the Bible, to be 
burned, because they were filled with blasphemies against Christ. 
John Reuchlin, or Capnio, a learned man of Suabia and the restorer 
of Hebrew literature among Christians, labored, both privatel}' and 
through the press, to prevent the execution of the decree. The 
emperor requested him to examine the books. After completing 
the work, Reuchlin indicated what books could be condemned by 
the imperial order, and, accordingly, these were consigned to the 
flames ; but such as contained no attacks upon Christianity were 
saved. This enraged the Dominicans, who commenced a fierce war 
upon him. The resentment of the clergy was so bitter that they 
ventured to accuse him of heresy, and quoted passages from his writ- 
ings to prove it. But Reuchlin confounded them, A. D. 15 13, in his 
''Defense against my Detractors in Cologne." His successful oppo- 
sition to them made his enemies more vindictive, and sentence was 
pronounced against him, first by the divines of Cologne, and after- 
wards by the Sorbonne at Paris. Hochstraten assembled a tribunal 
at Mayence, and had the writings of Reuchlin condemned and burned. 
The able professor appealed to Pope Leo X, and the friends of learn- 
ing determined to make his cause a common one. 

Erasmus and other distinguished men wrote warmly in their be- 
half to their friends at Rome, some of whom belonged to the sacred 



208 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

college; and the monks, with equal zeal, made a strong effort to de- 
feat those Avhom they both hated and feared. On the one side stood 
the monks, the most faithful servants of the popes ; on the other, 
the men whose talents and writings had attracted the admiration of 
Europe. No contest of the kind had, for a long time, awakened such 
general interest, especially in Italy and Germany, where learned men 
almost universally defended Reuchlin. The papal court, not wishing 
to offend either party, protracted this delicate case from time to time, 
and during the interval the most cutting satires were written on the 
monks and their supporters. Leo X himself had no deep attach- 
ment to this class, and referred the whole matter to the bishop of 
Spires, who declared Reuchlin innocent, and condemned the monks 
to pay the cost of the investigation. The ultimate sentence, enjoin- 
ing silence on both parties, was scarcely ratified when the controversy 
between Luther and the preachers of indulgences arose, and was 
brought before the same tribunal for decision. The course pursued 
by Pfefferkorn, the suspicious convert from Judaism, contributed in 
no small degree to direct the attention of the Italians to Germany, 
whose inhabitants they had hitherto regarded with contempt. A 
more favorable opinion was now entertained, especially since Luther 
espoused the cause of Reuchlin. The latter was also defended by 
Ulrich von Hiitten, a German scholar, and a mortal enemy of the 
monks. He was of a noble family of Franconia, and won great 
distinction both by his pen and his sword. In early life he visited 
Italy, and was present at the siege of Padua. The abominations of 
Rome aroused his indighation, and, after his return to Germany, he 
composed a work against the court of Rome, in which its vices are 
described in the strongest terms, and the forcible overthrow of its tyr- 
anny advocated. ** There are," says a traveler, Vadiseus, who figures 
in that work, ''three things one usually brings away with him from 
Rome: a bad conscience, an impaired stomach, and an empty purse. 
There are three things which Rome does not believe : the immortality 
of the soul, the resurrection of the dead, and hell. There are three 
things of which Rome makes traffic: the grace of Christ, ecclesias- 
tical dignities, and women." To Hiitten, surnamed the Demos- 
thenes of Germany, on account of his philippics against popery, has 
been attributed the famous satire which appeared A. D. 1516, enti- 
tled, Epistolcs Obscurorum Vironmi. But it has been ascertained that 
his friend, Crotus Robianus, who was a college acquaintance, and 
other Germans, were the real authors of this production, though 
Hiitten contributed largely to it. 



THE "LETTERS''— LUTHER'S WRITINGS IN ITALY. 209 

In these "Letters" the adversaries of Reuchhn, the monks, are 
represented as the writers, and are made to discuss the current affairs 
of the day, and especially theological subjects, after their own fashion, 
and in their own barbarous Latin. The most absurd questions are 
addressed to Eratius, their correspondent at Cologne, revealing their 
own gross ignorance, superstition, unbelief, fanatical zeal, pride, and 
vulgar spirit. Worse than all, they expose the excesses and profligacy 
of the chiefs of their party, and relate several scandalous anecdotes 
of Hochstraten and Pfefferkorn. There is in these ** Letters" a com- 
bination of silliness and hypocrisy which renders them very comic, 
and yet they are so natural that even the Dominicans and Fran- 
ciscans of England accepted them as a genuine and faithful statement 
of the principles and conduct of their order. But when the monks 
in Germany saw the ** Letters" they were indignant, and resolved to 
submit the matter to Leo X. The pope, however, refused to issue 
a bull against the satirical production, to the chagrin of the monks, 
and the delight of their enemies. This excitement had some influ- 
ence in Italy, and no doubt prepared the way for those more im- 
portant events which were soon to follow. 

Luther published his "Theses " A. D. 15 17, and in less than two 
years his writings appeared in Italy. There was nothing to indicate 
that a dispute, conducted by a friar, in an obscure part of Germany, 
in opposition to the sale of indulgences would awaken any special 
interest in other countries. The traffic in which Tetzel engaged had', 
long been sanctioned and practiced by the Roman See, for its pecun- 
iary benefit. It was not so much the evil itself as Luther's boldness 
in attacking it that startled Italy and other nations. The impudence- 
of his antagonists provoked the reformer to greater perseverance, andi 
gradually led him to censure other abuses, until his name and opin- 
ions soon became the topic of conversation beyond the limits of his- 
native land. The favorable reception of his writings by the learned^ 
men of Italy must have been exceedingly gratifying to him. John^ 
Froben, a celebrated publisher at Basle, sent Luther the following^ 
information in a letter addressed to him, and dated February 14, A. 
D. 1 5 19: "Blasius Salmonius, a bookseller at Leipsic, presented me, 
at the last Frankfort fair, with certain treatises composed by you, 
which, being approved by learned men, I immediately put to press, 
and sent six hundred copies to France and Spain. My friends assure- 
me that they are sold at Paris, and read and approved of, even by 
the Sorbonnists. Several learned men there have said that they have- 
long wished to see divine things treated with such becoming freedom. 



210 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

Calvus, a bookseller of Pavia, himself a scholar and addicted to the 
muses, has carried a great part of the impression into Italy. He 
promises to send epigrams written in your praise by the most enlight- 
ened men in that country; such favor have you gained to yourself 
and the cause of Christ by your constancy, courage, and dexterity." 
A letter has also been preserved, written about this time by an indi- 
vidual in Rome, in which the spirit and writings of Luther are 
applauded. 

In A. D. 1520 Burchard Schenk, a German nobleman and a 
monk, who was residing at Venice, wrote to Spalatin, the chaplain 
of the elector of Saxony, saying: ''According to your request, I 
have read the books of Martin Luther, and I can assure you that he 
has been much esteemed in this place for some time past. But the 
common saying is, 'Let him beware of the pope!' Upwards of two 
months ago ten copies of his books were brought here, and instantly 
purchased, before I had even heard of their arrival ; but in the begin- 
ning of this month (September), a mandate from the pope and the 
patriarch of Venice, arrived prohibiting them; and a strict search 
having been instituted among the booksellers, one imperfect copy 
was found and seized. I had endeavored to obtain that copy, but 
the bookseller durst not dispose of it." In a letter written during 
the following year, the same person states that the senate of Venice 
had at last reluctantly consented to the publication of the papal bull 
against Luther, but had taken care that it should not be read until 
the people had left the church. 

This correspondence relates two curious circumstances. The one 
is, that Schenk had received a commission from the elector of Saxony 
to purchase relics for the collegiate church at Wittemberg; but the 
commission was now revoked, and the relics sent back to Italy, to be 
sold at what price they could bring; "for," writes Spalatin, "here 
even the common people despise them, and think it sufficient (as it 
certainly is) if they be taught from the Scriptures to have faith and 
confidence in God, and to love their neighbor." The other circum- 
stance is, that the person whom Schenk employed to collect relics for 
the elector was Vigerio, who afterwards became bishop of Capo d' 
Istria, and legate of the pope to the German princes, but who 
ultimately embraced the doctrines of the Reformation, and became 
eminently instrumental in their diffusion and elsewhere. His charac- 
ter at this early period of his life deserves consideration, because, after 
his renunciation of popery, the greatest efforts were made by Romish 
writers to discredit his authority and tarnish his reputation. He is 



PR O TESTA NT D O CTRINES IN R OME. 2 1 1 

described by Schenk as ''a most excellent young man, who had dis- 
tinguished himself among the students of law at Padua, and was 
desirous of finishing his studies at Wittemberg under the auspices and 
patronage of the elector Frederick." 

The writings of Luther, Melancthon, Zwingle, and Bucer, notwith- 
standing all the pontifical bulls issued against them, were circulated 
and read with eagerness and delight in various parts of Italy. Some 
of them were translated into the Italian language, and were published 
under fictitious names, so that the inquisitors could not ascertain who 
were the real authors or what was the subject. With disguised titles 
they entered Rome and were read in the pope's own palace by some 
of the bishops and cardinals who praised their sentiments, but were 
compelled to denounce them as heretical and dangerous when the 
true authors were discovered. An incident of this kind is related 
by the elder Scaliger when he was at Rome. "Cardinal Seraphin," 
says he, "who was at that time counselor of the papal Rota, came 
to me one day and said: *We have had a most laughable business 
before us to-day. The " Common Places" of Philip Melancthon were 
printed at Venice with this title, par Messer Ippojilo da Terra Negra, 
Being sent to Rome, they were freely bought for the space of a 
whole year and read with great applause, so that, the copies being 
exhausted, an order was sent to Venice for a fresh supply; but, inj 
the mean time, a Franciscan friar, who possessed a copy of the- 
original edition, discovered the trick, and denounced the book as ai 
Lutheran production from the pen of Melancthon. It was proposed 
to punish the poor printer, who probably could not read one word; 
of the original ; but at last it was agreed to burn the copies and sup- 
press the whole affair.' " 

A similar anecdote is related of Luther's preface to the "Epistle 
to the Romans" and his treatise on "Justification," which were read 
with avidity for some time as the productions of Cardinal Fregoso. 
The works of Zwingle were circulated under the name of Coricius; 
Cogelius; and several editions of Martin Bucer's commentary on the- 
Psalms were sold in Italy and France as the work of Aretius Fehnus. 
The learned author, in a letter to Zwingle, says: "I am employed; 
in an exposition of the Psalms, which, at the urgent request of our 
brethren in France and Lower Germany, I propose to publish under 
a foreign name, that the work may be bought by their booksellers; 
for it is a capital crime to import into these countries books which 
bear our names. I therefore pretend that I am a Frenchman, and, 
if I do not change my mind, shall send forth the book as the pro- 

15 



2 1 2 ITAL V STJi UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

duction of Arctius Fclimis, which, indeed, is my name and surname, 
the former in Greek and the latter in Latin." 

While multitudes in Italy were discovering errors and abuses in 
the Romish Church, comparatively few advanced far enough to appre- 
ciate the spiritual beauty and experience the regenerating influence 
of a pure Christianity. Many who beheld the corruptions of popery 
did not fully embrace the doctrines preached by Luther and his asso- 
ciates, but there were some who received the truth *'as it is in Jesus." 
The following extracts indicate the intense thirst for kno\yledge which 
pervaded their hearts after they had read the first writings of the 
reformers. "It is now fourteen years," writes Egidio di Porta, an 
Augustinian monk on the lake of Como, to Zwingle, "since I, 
under the impulse of a certain pious feeling, but not according to 
knowledge, withdrew from my parents and assumed the black cowl. 
If I did not become learned and devout, I at least appeared to be so, 
and for seven years discharged the office of a preacher of God's 
Word, alas ! in deep ignorance. I savored not the things of Christ ; 
I ascribed nothing to faith; all to works. But God would not permit 
his servant to perish forever. He brought me to the dust. I was 
made to cry out. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? At length 
my heart heard the delightful voice, Go to Ulric Zwingle, and he 
will tell thee what thou shouldst do. O ravishing sound ; my soul 
found ineffable peace in that sound. Do not think that I mock you ; 
for you, nay not you, but God, by your means, rescued me from the 
snare of the fowler. But why do I say me? for I trust you have 
saved others along with me." In these enthusiastic words Porta 
announced the fact of his enlightenment by the writings of the Swiss 
reformer, and of the reception of the truth by some of the brethren 
in the same convent. In another letter he urges Zwingle to write 
him an epistle, which might be instrumental in the conversion of 
others belonging to his religious order. "But let it be cautiously 
written," he continues, "for they are full of pride and self-conceit. 
Place some passages of Scripture before them by which they may 
perceive how much God is pleased to have his Word preached purely 
and without mixture, and how highly he is offended with those who 
adulterate it and bring forward their own opinions as divine." 

Baltasare Fontana, a Carmelite monk of Locarno, addressed a 
letter to the Evangelical Churches of Switzerland, breathing the same 
devout spirit. He exclaims, "Hail, faithful in Christ! Think, oh 
think of Lazarus in the Gospels, and of the lowly woman of Canaan, 
who was willing to be satisfied with the crumbs which fell from the 



HEBRE W LITER A TURE IN ITAL V. 2 1 3 

table of the Lord. As David came to the priest in a servile dress 
and unarmed, so do I fly to you for the show-bread and the armor 
laid up in the sanctuary. Parched with thirst, I seek the fountains 
of living waters; sitting like the blind man by the way-side, I cry to 
him that gives sight. With tears and sighs we, who sit here in dark- 
ness, humbly entreat you who are acquainted with the titles and 
authors of the books of knowledge (for to you it is given to know 
the mysteries of the kingdom of God), to send us the writings of 
such elect teachers as you possess, and particularly the works of the 
divine Zwingle, the far-famed Luther, the acute Melancthon, the 
accurate Ecolampade. The prices shall be paid to you through his 
excellency, Werdmyller. Do your endeavor that a city of Lombardy, 
enslaved by Babylon, and a stranger to the Gospel of Christ, may 
be set free." 



Chapter X. 

SACRED LITERATURE IN ITALY, 



WHEN the Reformation entered Italy that country was distin- 
guished for its knowledge of sacred literature. Even in the 
fifteenth century the study of the Hebrew had made much progress, 
the Psalter having been published in that language, A. D. 1477, and 
was followed by different parts of the Old Testament in the original, 
which were issued from the press. A complete Hebrew Bible was 
printed, A. D. 1488, at Soncinio, a city of the Cremonese, by a 
family of Jews, who, under the adopted name of Soncinati, estab- 
lished printing presses in various parts of Europe, including Constan- 
tinople. The Jews almost entirely engrossed this department of 
typography until A. D. 15 18, when Daniel Bomberg published on 
the splendid press which he had recently erected at Venice an edi- 
tion of the Hebrew Scriptures, accompanied with various readings 
and rabbinical commentaries. A close examination of ancient docu- 
ments shows that the knowledge of Hebrew was not entirely extinct 
among Italian Christians anterior to the revival of letters. Occasion- 
ally an individual had the curiosity to learn something about it from 
a Jew, or had the courage to overcome, by his own strength, the 
difficulties of a language whose very characters appeared formidable 
to European eyes. Persons like Era Ricoldo, of Florence, and Ciriaco, 



2 1 4 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

of Ancona, traveled into Turkey, Syria, and adjacent countries and 
acquired some knowledge of other Oriental languages. Several indi- 
viduals are mentioned in the literary history of Italy during the early 
part of the fifteenth century as Hebrew and Arabic scholars, the 
most distinguished of whom was Giannozzo IManetti, a Florentine, 
who prepared a triglot Psalter, containing a Latin translation made 
by himself from the original. But the study of Hebrew in Italy, 
properly speaking, was coeval with the printing of the Hebrew Bible ; 
and it was facilitated by the severe measures taken by Ferdinand 
and Isabella, at the instigation of the Inquisition, to oppress the 
Jews, which induced many of them to emigrate from Spain to Italy, 
where from lucrative motives they were favorably received by the 
popes. 

Giovanni Pico was one of the earliest students of the Oriental 
languages in Italy. He was a young man of rank, the son of Gian- 
francesco Pico, prince of Mirandula and Concordia. In his youth he 
had a retentive memory, and seldom forgot any thing which he 
heard or read. He studied in the most celebrated universities of his 
native land and France, and came to Rome with the reputation of 
knowing twenty-two languages. In the twenty-fourth year of his age 
he published nine hundred propositions relating to dialectics, physics, 
morals, metaphysics, theology, and natural magic, as treated by the 
Chaldean, Arabian, Greek, and Latin philosophers, and by the Chris- 
tian Fathers and schoolmen, declaring that he was ready to dispute 
with any person upon every one of them. A manuscript copy of the 
propositions, preserved in the library of Vienna, has, at the end, the 
following notification in Latin: ''The dispute on these conclusions 
will not take place until after Epiphany. In the mean time they will 
be published in all the academies of Italy ; and, if any philosopher 
or divine choose to come from the remotest parts of Italy to dispute, 
his expenses shall be borne." The challenge was not accepted, and 
a more serious charge than that of vanity was made against Pico. 
He was accused of heresy, and certain divines, having examined 
thirteen propositions selected from his work, confirmed the charge. 

Pope Innocent VIII, after condemning the propositions as sus- 
picious and dangerous, exempted the author from punishment, 
because he had declared, on oath, his willingness to submit in all 
things to the judgment of the Church. In an apology for the offen- 
sive articles he displayed great ingenuity in reconciling them to the 
Romish doctrine ; but this aroused a more intense feeling of opposi- 
tion, and no doubt he would have been severely persecuted had not 



PICO AS A STUDENT. 2 1 5 

death removed Innocent VIIL After remaining for some time at 
Florence, Pico, through the influence of his friends, obtained a brief 
of absolution and security from the new pope, Alexander VI. The 
papal brief is prefixed to the edition of Pico's works published at 
Basle, A. D. 1572. Among the condemned propositions are the two 
following: **That Christ did not descend into hell truly, or in respect 
to real presence ; and that neither the cross of Christ nor any other 
image is to be adored with the worship called latiia, as taught by 
Thomas Aquinas." There are other propositions in the work which, 
it might have been supposed, would have given equal offense, such 
as, "that the will of God is the sole reason why he reprobates some 
and elects others ; that the true body of Christ is in heaven locally, 
and on the altar sacramentally ; and that the same body can not 
be made by the power of God to exist in different places at the 
same time." 

While at Florence he became intimately acquainted with Lorenzo 
de Medici and other literary men, who admired him for his erudition 
and taste. But a wonderful change in his plans occurred at this 
time, and having abandoned the pursuit of secular knowledge, and 
burned a collection of his Italian and Latin poems which Politiano 
had revised and approved, he devoted himself to sacred studies and 
the practice of piety. In the midst of these exercises he was pros- 
trated by a fever and was prematurely cut off, A. D. 1494, in the 
thirty-second year of his age. He had commenced the stud}' of 
the Oriental languages before entering upon a decidedly religious 
life. His instructor in Hebrew was a Jew, called Jochana, and in 
Chaldee, Mithridates, concerning whom he writes in a letter to a 
friend. ''As to your request for the Chaldee alphabet," he says, 
''you can not obtain it from Mithridates, nor from me, who am always 
ready to grant you every thing. For this man would not agree to 
teach me the Chaldee tongue until I had taken an oath, in express 
words, that I would impart it to nobody. Of this you may be 
assured by the testimony of our friend, Geronimo Benivieni, who, 
happening to be present one day when I was about to receive a les- 
son, Mithridates, in a rage, drove him out of the room. But, not to 
disappoint you altogether, instead of the Chaldee, you will receive 
with this packet the Arabic characters, which I copied with my 
own hands." 

The writings of Pico indicate that his knowledge of Hebrew was 
not inconsiderable, and his confidential letters afford the most satis- 
factory evidence of his enthusiasm in the study of it and the cognate 



2 1 6 ITAL V 577? UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

languages of the East. Writing to his nephew, he says: "The 
reason why you have not had an answer to your letter is, that I have 
met with certain Hebrew books which have occupied me for a whole 
week, night and day, so that I am nearly blind. They were brought 
me twenty days ago by a Jew from Sicily, and as I am afraid that 
they may be recalled, you must not expect to hear a word from me 
until I have thoroughly examined their contents. When that is done 
I shall overwhelm you with letters." In a letter to Marsilio Ficino, 
he writes: **You could not have demanded back your Latin Ma- 
homet at a more convenient time, as I expect shortly to be able to 
read him in his native tongue. Having labored a whole month in 
studying the Hebrew language I am about to apply myself to Arabic, 
and am not afraid but that I shall make as much proficiency in it as 
I have done in Hebrew, in which I can now write a letter correctly, 
though not Avith elegance. You see what resolution, accompanied 
with labor and diligence, can do, even when the bodily strength is 
small. Certain books, in both languages, which have come into my 
hands, not by chance, but by the direction of a kind providence 
favoring my studies, have encouraged and compelled me to lay aside 
every thing for the sake of acquiring the knowledge of Arabic and 
Chaldee. Having obtained these (shall I call them books or treas- 
ures?) I was inflamed with the desire of being able to read them 
without an interpreter — a task at which I am now toiling with all my 
might. Do not think, however, that I forget your favorite Plotinus." 
Designing and covetous men, taking advantage of Pico's enthu- 
siasm, deceived him in regard to certain books. These impostors 
discovered that he had an ardent desire to demonstrate the truth of 
the Christian religion by evidences from the Pythagorean and Jewish 
philosophy, and they interpolated some cabalistic works, of which 
they sold him seventy volumes at a great price. He was solemnly 
assured that they were written under the direction of Ezra, and con- 
tained that interpretation of the law which the Jews had hitherto 
religiously concealed from Christians. His contemporary and country- 
man, Annius, or Nanni, of Viterbo, was induced to publish a number 
of fabulous works as the authentic productions of Berosus, Manetho, 
Fabius Pictor, and other ancient writers ; and similar impositions 
have been practiced upon literary men in later and more enlightened 
times. Pico was certainly one of the most distinguished scholars th-e 
world ever saw, and the prodigy of his age for learning. There are 
many things in his works which show that his mind Avas imbued with 
true piety, and that he had a clearer knowledge of the Gospel than 



ITALIAN WRITERS OF HEBRE W BO OKS. 2 1 7 

most men of his age. The honor of giving to the world the first 
elementary work on Hebrew, written by a Christian, or in the Latin 
language, belongs to Germany. This was the grammar and lexicon 
of John Reuchlin, printed at Pfortzheim, A. D. 1506; but, as early 
as A. D. 1490, the **Book of Roots," or lexicon, of the celebrated 
Jewish grammarian, David Kimchi, was published in the original at 
Venice. Francesco Stancari of Mantua, who afterwards embraced the 
Protestant religion, and excited great commotions in Poland, pub- 
lished a Hebrew grammar, A. D. 1525. FeHx of Prato, a converted 
Jew, who printed a Latin translation of the Psalms, A. D. 15 15, 
appears to have been the first Christian in Italy who taught Hebrew, 
being invited to Rome for this purpose, A.D. 15 18, by Leo X. 
About the same time, Agathias Guidacerio, a native of Catanao, also 
taught it at Rome, and was called from there to Paris, by Francis I, 
to be professor of the sacred tongue in the Trilingual College, in 
which Paolo Paridisi, or Canossa, his countryman, and, like him, 
the author of a work on Hebrew Grammar, afterwards held the same 
situation. 

As early as A. D. 15 14, a collection of prayers was printed in the 
Arabic language at Fano, in the ecclesiastical states, on a press which 
had been founded by the warlike pontiff, Julius H. Previous to this 
Pagnino de Pagninis had commenced an edition of the Koran, in the 
original language, and a part of it, at least, was published at Venice. 
But the principal work in this language, so far as Biblical literature 
is concerned, was produced by Agostino Justiniani, bishop of Nebio 
in Corsica, in a polyglot Psalter containing the Hebrew, Chaldaic, 
Arabic, Greek, and Latin, published at Genoa, A. D. 15 16, and 
intended as a specimen of a polyglot Bible, which the author had 
been long engaged in preparing for the press. This work gave him 
a wide reputation as a scholar, and Francis I invited him to teach 
the Oriental tongues at Paris. Many of the Italians were instructed 
in Arabic by Juan Leon, a native of Elvira, in Spain, better known 
as a historian by the name of Leo Africanus. Among others was 
Egidio of Viterbo, who earnestly promoted Oriental studies among 
his countrymen, both by example and patronage. The master, Leo 
Africanus, went to Tunis, and relapsed to Mohammedanism ; the 
scholarly prelate, still more celebrated for extensive learning and ele- 
gant taste than for rank, was advanced to the purple and sent to 
Constantinople. 

The knowledge of the Ethiopic, or, as they called it, Chaldean, 
language, was introduced into Europe by deputies sent to Rome 



% 
2 1 8 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

from the Christians of Abyssinia, during the sitting of the Lateran 
Council, A. D. 15 12. These representatives performed the rehgious 
service in the Chaldean tongue, and also imparted instruction to 
private individuals, among whom was John Potken, provost of St. 
George's at Cologne, who was able to publish at Rome, A. D. 15 13, 
the Psalter and Song of Solomon in Ethiopic, with a short introduc- 
tion to that language. At a later period, a learned abbot of that 
country named Tesso-Sionis Malhesini, or, as he called himself in 
Europe, Peter Sionita, Avho resided at Rome under the patronage of 
Cardinal Marcello Cervini, taught his native tongue to Pierpaolo 
Gualtieri and Mariano Vittorio, afterwards bishop of Rieti ; and, with 
their assistance, and that of two of his own countrymen, he pub- 
lished the New Testament in Ethiopic at Rome, A. D. 1548, and four 
years after this, Vittorio issued the first grammar in that language. 

It may seem strange that no part of the Syriac version of the 
Scriptures should as yet have come from the press. Bomberg in- 
tended to print the Gospel according to Matthew in that language, 
from a copy of the four Gospels in his possession, but delayed the 
work in expectation of obtaining additional information. Soon after 
the election of Leo X to the pontificate Peter, patriarch of the Mar- 
onites, sent a deputation to Rome, consisting of Joseph Acurio, a 
priest; Moses, a deacon, and Elias, a subdeacon. One of these three 
individuals initiated into the Syriac language Teseo Ambrogio, of the 
noble family of the Conti d' Albonese, a doctor of laws and canon 
regular of St. John's of the Lateran, who had received instructions in 
the Ethiopic tongue from the delegation of Abyssinians who visited 
Rome A. D. 15 12. From that time Ambrogio became passionately 
fond of these languages, and being appointed to teach them at Bo- 
logna, issued from the press a specimen of his qualifications for that 
task in his Introduction to the Chaldaic, Syriac, Arminian, and ten 
other languages, with the characters of about forty different alphabets. 
He was prevented by various unfavorable events from executing 
his cherished design of publishing the Gospels in Syriac. Ignatius, 
patriarch of Antioch, A. D. 1552, sent Moses Mardinens as his 
** orator" to the Roman pontiff to obtain, among other things, the 
printing of an edition of the Syriac New Testament for the use of 
the Churches under his inspection. The orator's eloquence was inef- 
fectual at Rome, Venice, and other places in Italy ; and, after labor- 
ing in vain for nearly three years, he was about to return home in 
despair when he was advised to apply to Albert Widmanstaedter, the 
learned chancellor of Eastern Austria, who became interested, and 



ITALIAN COMMENTA TORS AND A UTHORS. 2 1 9 

by whose earnest effort the work was published, A. D. 1555, at 
Vienna. Thus was Italy deprived of the honor of giving to the 
world the New Testament in the best and most venerable of all the 
ancient versions. 

The first edition of the Septuagint came from the Aldine press, 
A. D. 1 5 18, under the direction of Andrew of Asolo. This printing 
establishment, so famous for the excellent editions of the Latin, Ital- 
ian, and Greek classic authors which issued from it, was, as is well 
known to scholars, estabhshed in Venice by Aldo Manuzio, a distin- 
guished Italian scholar and printer, about A. D. 1490. It was car- 
ried on for more than a century by Aldo Manuzio the elder, his son 
Paolo, and his grandson Aldo. Nine hundred and eight different 
editions were issued from it. No other press of the kind has ever 
been so celebrated. Erasmus had his Greek Testament, accompa- 
nied with a Latin translation, printed at Basle, A. D. 15 16. The 
fame of the author gave both these works an extensive circulation 
in Italy, and learned men became better acquainted with the oracles 
of God. Sante Pagnini of Lucca published his Latin translation of 
the whole Bible, A. D. 1527, and it was received with great eager- 
ness by scholars, on account of the writer's reputation as a Hebrew 
teacher, and also because he had spent more than twenty-five years 
upon the work. 

Not only were the Sacred Scriptures printed in the original lan- 
guages, and in various versions, but valuable commentaries on them 
appeared, the productions of gifted minds, which afterwards were 
very powerful weapons in the hands of those who labored to extend 
the Reformation in Italy. These commentaries, written by men of 
prominence in the Roman Catholic Church and indorsed by its 
highest authorities, were continually appealed to in supporting the 
doctrines of the Bible, rightly interpreted. The work of Pietro Co- 
lonna, commonly called, from his native place, Galatius, was useful 
to later writers on the Jewish controversy, in supplying important 
material. The fact, afterwards discovered, that it was a compilation 
from the unpublished work of another author, did not detract from 
its real merit. Erasmus edited, not only his own paraphrases, but 
also the notes of Laurentius Valla on the New Testament, which was 
recommended to the Italians as the production of one of their coun- 
trymen, who had become distinguished as the reviver of letters, but 
whom Bellarmine subsequently and justly called the precursor of the 
Lutherans. The commentaries of Cardinal Cajetan and a few others 
were characterized by a Scriptural simplicity which strikingly con- 



220 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT, 



trasted with the writings of the scholastic divines, who preceded 
them. The orator, Cardinal Sadolet, in his commentary on the 
Epistle to the Romans, labored to correct the barbarisms of the Vul- 
gate and combat the tenets of St. Augustine. 

Agostino Steuchi, or Steuco, of Gubbio, published various works, 
which indicate an extensive knowledge of the three learned languages, 




■SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. 



mixed with Cabalistical and Platonic ideas. Isidoro Clario, a Bene- 
dictine abbot of Monte Cassino, who was promoted to the bishopric 
of Foligno, published the Vulgate, corrected from the original He- 
brew and Greek, and accompanied with preliminary dissertations and 
explanatory notes. The work did not appear until A. D. 1542, and, 
as .the prevalence of heresy had alarmed his brethren, the author was 
compelled to submit it to a rigid examination. The result of the 
expurgation was the suppression of the prolegomena. He had given 



THE ITALIANS AND THE BIBLE. 221 

offense by saying in his preface that he corrected the version of the 
Old Testament by the Hebrew, and of the New by the Greek verity. 
This writer had also used the notes of the Protestants; but, as Tira- 
boschi candidly admits, this was an ** unpardonable crime" at that 
period. "Heresy," says another modern writer, ''was a pest, the 
very touch of which created horror ; the cordon of separation or pre- 
caution was drawn all around ; Clario did not dread the contagion for 
himself, but he dreaded to appear to have braved it, and his pru- 
dence excuses his plagiarism." 

These studies directed the minds of the learned men of Italy to 
the Bible, and prepared them for the religious controversy which 
arose after the commencement of the Reformation. The sacred lan- 
guages were studied in the palaces of bishops and in the cells of 
monks, and were mastered by individuals in the conclave, such as 
Egidio, Fregoso, and Aleander. All did not manifest a strong desire 
to seek the treasures hid in those books, which they examined by 
night and by day, and still less were they led by them to abandon a 
system which afforded them literary leisure, and other secular advan- 
tages. Men were not disposed at that period, as they were subse- 
quently, to employ sacred criticism as an art to invent arguments for 
the support of existing evils. Indeed, there were many, from time 
to time, whose minds welcomed the truth, or were accessible to con- 
viction. Among the converts to the reformed opinions were men 
eminent for their literary attainments, whose rank in the Church, and 
character for piety in the so-called religious orders, were recognized. 
The reformers appealed from the conflicting and fallible opinions of 
the doctors of the Church to the infallible dictates of revelation, and 
from the Vulgate version of the Scriptures to the Hebrew and Greek 
originals. These appeals were sustained by the translations that had 
been made by men of acknowledged orthodoxy, and published with 
the permission and warm recommendations of the head of the Church. 
The wise arrangements of Providence are revealed in this portion of 
history, in the actions of monks and bishops, cardinals and popes, 
who forged and polished those weapons which were soon to be turned 
against themselves, and which afterwards they desired to blunt, and 
labored to denounce as unlawful. 

The works which have been described were confined to the prom- 
inent scholars; but, however useful they were, they probably would 
not have made any impression on the public mind in Italy, while the 
people at large were deprived of the means of religious knowledge. 
As the Romish Church strictly confined her religious service to an 



222 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

unknown tongue, it is not surprising that she has always viewed with 
jealous eyes translations of the Scriptures into vulgar languages. Ac- 
cording to the statement of a learned Italian, all the sermons preached 
in churches previous to the sixteenth century were in Latin, and 
those in Italian were delivered without the consecrated walls, in the 
piazzas, or some contiguous spot. This statement, however, has 
been controverted. It is certain that, in the thirteenth century, the 
sermons were preached in Latin, and afterwards explained in Italian 
to the common people. A similar practice was observed in the fif- 
teenth century, and so late as the middle of the sixteenth' century, 
Isidoro Clario, bishop of Foligno, preached in Latin to a crowded 
assembly of men and women. The Romish authorities contended 
that the dignity of the pulpit and the sacredness of the Word of God 
were compromised by using a different method, and Passavanti de- 
clares that * ' the Sacred Scriptures were villified by being translated 
into the vulgar tongue." Notwithstanding this prejudice, translations 
of the Bible into Italian were undertaken, after Dante, Petrarch, and 
others, had purified the language; and these works were issued from 
the press within a i^ysi years after the invention of the art of printing. 
Jacopo da Voragine, bishop of Genoa, and author of the ' ' Golden 
Legend," is said to have translated the Scriptures into the Italian 
language as early as the middle of the thirteenth century; but Le 
Long and Fontanini deny the existence of such a version. In the 
fourteenth century more than one individual attempted to perform a 
similar task, but they executed it, as may be supposed, in a rude 
and barbarous manner. Fragments of such translations were found in 
libraries during the fifteenth century. Nicolo Malermi, or Malerbi, a 
Camaldolese monk, printed an Italian version of the Scriptures at 
Venice as early as A. D. 147 1; and is said to have gone through 
nine editions in the fifteenth, and twelve editions in the sixteenth 
century. This indicated that the Italians were addicted to reading in 
their native tongue, if they did not at that time have a general desire 
for, the Word of God. There are additional proofs of this in the 
Italian versions of parts of Scripture which appeared about the same 
period. The translation of Malermi, like those on which it was 
founded, was made from the Vulgate, and written in a style unsuited 
to the sixteenth century. The learned men of Italy long desired a 
version more faithful to the original and less barbarous in its diction. 
This was at last executed by Antonio Brucioli, whose Italian version 
of the New Testament was printed at Venice, A. D. 1530, on the 
press of his countryman, Luca Antonio Giunti. A copy of this rare 



VARIOUS ITALIAN VERSIONS. 223 

book has been preserved in the Royal Library at BerHn. His version 
of the whole Bible was issued from the same press A. D. 1532, and 
was reprinted with greater accuracy A. D. 1 541. The translator, in 
an advertisement prefixed to it, intimates that the whole work ap- 
peared A. D. 1530; but he must have referred to the New Testament, 
because no copy of the Old Testament published in that year has 
ever been discovered. So great was the success of this translation 
that other versions rapidly followed. The Roman Catholics resolved 
to publish translations of their own in order to oppose those which 
they considered favorable to the Protestant doctrines. 

This was the origin of the Italian Bible by Sante Marmochini, 
printed at Venice, A. D. 1538, which, though professing to be trans- 
lated from the Hebrew and Greek, is in reality a version of the 
Vulgate, except when it slavishly copies Brucioli. Fra Zacchario 
followed Marmochini, A. D. 1542, with his version of the New Tes- 
tament. Massimo Teofilo translated the New Testament and printed 
it at Lyons, A. D. 155 1, and Filippo Rusticio published a translation 
of the whole Bible at Geneva, A. D. 1562. Both of them declare 
their object to be the preservation of the purity of the Italian lan- 
guage, which had been neglected by preceding writers ; and in their 
preparatory and subjoined discourses they defend the reading of the 
Scriptures in the vulgar tongues, and inculcate Protestant views. It 
is evident that the deep interest manifested by Italian scholars in the 
study of Oriental languages and sacred literature prepared the way 
for the dissemination of the truths of the Gospel in Italy. 



Chapter XL 



THE REFORMATION EXTENDED BY COMMERCE AND WAR. 

NOTHING contributed more to the introduction of the Refor- 
mation into Italy and its development there than the increased 
intercourse between that country and Germany. Merchants passed 
from the one to the other, often taking with them books which, as 
we have already seen, came into the hands of those who desired to 
possess them. The German youth had long been accustomed to 
finish their education, especially in law and medicine, at Padua, 
Bologna, and other Italian universities, and the Itahan youth com- 
menced to visit the schools of Germany and Switzerland, whose 
literary reputation was daily advancing. The fame of Melancthon 



224 ^TAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT, 

had reached Italy, and was known to most of the learned, Bembo 
and Sadoleti even maintaining a friendly correspondence with him. 
Desiring to hear the great reformer himself, some of the Italian stu- 
dents were attracted to Wittemberg, and they, of course, were likely 
to return to their native land with minds imbued with the new opin- 
ions. The more ardent defenders of the old religion, beholding the 
effects of this intercourse, repeatedly complained of it. A writer of 
that age says that *'A stop should be put to all commerce and 
intercourse, epistolary or otherwise, between the Germans and Ital- 
ians, as the best means of preventing heresy from pervading the 
whole of Italy." It is certain that epistolary correspondence accom- 
plished much in the diffusion of evangelical truths, as those who had 
embraced them in Germany and Switzerland wrote freely and fully 
on the important subject to their friends south of the Alps. 

Italy was terribly scourged by war during the first half of the 
sixteenth century, but this evil was overruled by Providence for 
disseminating in that country the inestimable blessings of the Gospel. 
In the armies of Charles V, emperor of Germany, there were many 
Protestants, and not a few from Switzerland followed the standard 
of his rival, Francis I. These men, with the freedom peculiar to 
soldiers, conversed on the religious controversy with the inhabitants 
among whom they were encamped, spoke openly of the Reformation, 
and compared the simple and Scriptural doctrines of the reformers 
with the absurd and debasing superstitions of the Italians. They 
extolled the liberty which they enjoyed in their countries, contrasted 
the poverty and humility of Luther and his associates, the purity of 
their lives, their beneficence, their charity, their untiring devotion to 
the best interests of the people, with the wealth and licentiousness of 
their opponents, especially the sumptuous and luxurious living of the 
cardinals, and other dignitaries of the Romish Church, the ignorance, 
the indolence, the insolence, and the vices of the priests and monks, 
and expressed their astonishment that a people of such spirit as the 
Italians should continue to submit to an unprincipled and corrupt 
priesthood, which demanded a base and implicit subjection that it 
might profit by the ignorance and credulity of the multitude. 

These representations made a profound impression upon those 
Italians with whom the foreign Protestant soldiers came in contact. 
The truth of the charges was daily confirmed by the conduct of the 
Romish priests and other ecclesiastics; and, besides, the people had 
before their eyes the anger which the pope, Clement VII, and the 
emperor, Charles V, openly exhibited in the manifestoes published 



"TIVO GREAT LUMINARIESr 225 

against each other. Previous to this war, and during its continuance, 
the successor of St. Peter and the "First Son of the Church" hurled 
bulls and proclamations at each other in no small measure, to the 
great scandal of all the faithful, and indeed to the grief of every sin- 
cere Christian. Clement charged the emperor with indifference to 
religion, and complained that he had enacted many laws in various 
parts of his dominions which were hostile to the Church and de- 
rogatory to the honor of the Holy See. Charles recriminated by 
accusing the pope of kindling the flames of war, that he might evade 
what was loudly and universally demanded — the reformation of the 
Church in its head and members. He wrote to the cardinals to sum- 
mon a general council for this purpose, and threatened that, if this 
were not done, he would abolish the jurisdiction of the pope through- 
out Spain, and convince other nations, by his example, that ecclesias- 
tical abuses might be corrected, and the ancient discipline of the 
Church restored without the intervention of papal authority. 

Before having recourse to arms against the ''Holy Father," who, 
contrary to all the probabilities of the case, and contrary also to his 
own interest, had conspired against his most devoted as well as most 
powerful son, Charles made trial of his pen. In a letter of Septem- 
ber 1 8th, A. D. 1526, written in the magnificent halls of the Alham- 
bra, he reminded Clement VH of the many services he had rendered 
him, for which, it appeared, he must now accept as payment the 
league formed against him at his instigation. ** Seeing," said the 
emperor to the pope, **God hath set us up as two great luminaries, 
let us endeavor that the world may be enlightened by us, and that 
no eclipse may happen by our dissensions. But," continued the 
emperor, having recourse to what has always been the terror of 
popes, **if you will needs go on as a warrior I protest and appeal to 
a council." This letter produced no effect in the Vatican, and these 
"two luminaries" — to use the emperor's metaphor — instead of shed- 
ding light on the world, began to scorch it with fire. Charles now 
resolved to do something more than threaten, and requested his 
brother, Ferdinand, to take command of the army destined to act 
against the pope. Ferdinand, however, could not at this crisis be 
absent from Germany without great inconvenience, and, accordingly, 
he commissioned Freundsberg, the same valorous knight who ad- 
dressed the words of encouragement to Luther when he entered the 
imperial hall at Worms, to raise troops for the emperor's assistance, 
and lead them across the Alps. Freundsberg was a genuine lover of 
the Gospel; but the work he had now in hand was no evangelical 



226 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

service, and he prepared for it with the coohiess, the business air, 
and the resolution of the old soldier. It was in November, A. D. 
1526, that the army commenced to march. The snows had already 
fallen on the Alps, making it doubly hazardous to climb their preci- 
pices and pass their summits; but the brave general, with his host of 
fifteen thousand men, overcame all obstacles, and in three days 
reached the plains of Italy, and united with the forces of the Constable 
of Bourbon, the emperor's general. This combined German and 
Spanish army, now amounting to twenty thousand men, entered the 
papal territories and advanced toward Rome. The German general 
carried with him a great iron chain, with which, as he informed his 
soldiers, he intended to hang the pope. But he was destined not to 
see Rome, a circumstance more to be regretted by the Romans than 
by the Germans, for, had he lived, the kind-hearted, though rough, 
soldier would have restrained the wild license of hi^, army, which 
made the city a scene of terror. Freundsberg was taken sick and 
died by the way, but his soldiers hastened forward. 

On the evening of May 5, A. D. 1527, the invaders first beheld, 
through a thin haze, those venerable walls, over which many storms 
had lowered, but few more terrible than that now gathering round 
them. The inhabitants of the city, like those of ancient Babylon, 
were indulging in banquetings and songs, never dreaming that the 
spoilers were at their gates. On the following morning, under the 
cover of a dense fog, the soldiers approached the walls, and by 
means of scaling-ladders entered the city in a few hours. The pope 
and the cardinals fled to the castle of St. Angelo. The demand to 
surrender was indignantly refused by Clement, who was expecting 
deliverance every moment from the ''Holy League." The patience 
of the troops was soon exhausted, and the work of pillage began. 
Though three hundred and fifty years have rolled away since its 
occurrence we can not relate the awful tragedy without a shudder. 
The Constable Bourbon having perished in the first assault, the army 
was without a leader powerful enough to restrain the indulgence of 
its passions and appetites. 

The sacking of such a city as Rome was a great calamity. 
There was not, at that period, another such on earth. The ages had 
laid their choicest gifts at its feet. It was the perfection of beauty. 
Into it were gathered the most valuable and curious specimens that 
the world could afford. The priceless monuments of antiquity 
adorned it, and it was ennobled with the triumphs of modern genius 
and art. The chisel of Michael Angelo, the pencil of Raphael, and 



228 ITAL V STT^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

the munificence of Leo X had shed upon it a glory which still 
retained its original luster. The riches of all Christendom, flowing 
for many centuries through a hundred avenues — dispensations, par- 
dons, jubilees, pilgrimages, annats, palls, and innumerable contri- 
vances — had filled it to overflowing. But to her ' ' that spoiled and 
was not spoiled " the hour of retribution had now come. The hungry 
troops rushed upon the prey. In a moment a fearful tempest of lust 
and vengeance, greed and rage, burst upon the ** seven-hilled city." 

The pillage was not only unsparing, but pitiless. The plunderers 
opened and ransacked the most secret places, even employing tor- 
ture in some cases to make prelates and princes disgorge their 
wealth. The bullion of the banker, the stores of the merchant, 
and the hoards of the usurer were robbed. They stripped the altars 
of their vessels and the churches of their votive offerings and tapes- 
tries. The sepulchers were invaded and plundered, the relics of 
canonized saints carried away, and the very corpses of the popes 
rifled of their rings and ornaments. All these stolen articles — gold 
and silver cups, sacks of coin, jewels, pyxes, rich vestments — were 
heaped up in the market-places and gambled for by the soldiers, 
who, having an abundance of wine and meat, reveled in the midst 
of the stricken and bleeding city. There was a strange and hideous 
mixture of robbery, carnage, and grim pleasantries. The soldiers 
delighted in exposing to ridicule, mockery, and outrage those per- 
sons- and things which the Romans called sacred. The pontifical 
ceremonial was performed in mimic pomp, camp-boys being arrayed 
in cope and stole and chasuble, as if they were going to consecrate. 
Bishops and cardinals — in some cases entirely nude, in others, attired 
in fantastic dress — were placed on mules, with their faces turned 
to the animal's cjviipe, and led through the streets, while the unwel- 
come dignity to which they had been promoted was recognized in 
the ironical cheers of the multitude. 

A scene which was exhibited during the siege of the castle of 
St. Angelo will convey an idea of the indignity shown toward the 
Roman See. One day a party of German soldiers, mounted on 
horses and mules, assembled in the streets of Rome. A man named 
Griinwald, remarkable for his noble countenance and lofty bearing, 
being attired like the pope, and wearing a triple crown, was placed 
on a richly caparisoned horse. Others were arrayed like cardinals, 
bishops, and friars, some wearing miters, and others clothed in 
scarlet or white, according to the rank of those whom they person- 
ated. With all the pomp and ceremony which usually belong to a 



PILLAGE OF ROME. 229 

pontifical procession, they marched through the principal streets of 
Rome, amid the sound of drums and fifes, and followed by a vast 
concourse of people. When they passed a house in which any of 
the cardinals were confined the procession halted, and Grlinwald 
blessed the people by stretching out his fingers in the manner prac- 
ticed by the pope on such occasions. Then he was taken from his 
horse and carried on the shoulders of one of his companions, a spe- 
cial seat being prepared for that purpose. Arriving at length at the 
" Castle," he drank from a large cup to the safe custody of Clement, 
in which he was pledged by his attendants. After this ceremony he 
administered an oath to his own cardinals, binding them to yield due 
obedience and faithful allegiance to the emperor, as their lawful and 
only prince, and not to disturb the peace of the state by intrigues ; 
but, according to the precepts of the Bible and the example of Christ 
and his apostles, to be subject to the civil powers. After a speech, 
in which he reviewed the sacrilegious, parricidal, and civil wars 
excited by the popes, and declared the Emperor Charles V an 
instrument whom God had raised up to revenge these crimes and 
restrain the rage of corrupt priests, the pretended pontiff solemnly 
promised to transfer all his power and authority to Martin Luther, 
in order that he might purify the Church, and completely refit the 
ship of St. Peter, which had been so long the sport of the winds 
and the waves, while the unskillful and negligent crew were engaged 
in drinking and debauchery. Then, raising his voice, he exclaimed, 
*'A11 who agree to these things, and would see them carried into 
execution, let them signify this by lifting up their hands;" and im- 
mediately the whole band of soldiers raised their hands, and shouted, 
''Long live Pope Luther! Long live Pope Luther!" All this 
occurred under the eye of Clement VIL ''Never," says D'Aubigne, 
"had pontiff been proclaimed with such unanimity." 

According to the statements of such Roman Catholic historians 
as Cochlaeus, Spondanus, and Guiciardini, the Germans in the emper- 
or's army behaved with great moderation towards the inhabitants of 
Rome after the first day's pillage, and contented themselves with 
testifying their opposition to the prevailing idolatry ; but the Span- 
iards never relented in their rapacity and cruelty, torturing the 
prisoners, and delighting in the sufferings of Church dignitaries, 
some of whom expired in the hands of the brutal soldiers, in the 
midst of cruel tortures. Not content with robbing their victims of 
their wealth, these bloodthirsty Spaniards compelled many to yield 
their lives ; while the animosity of the Germans, their Tramontane 



230 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

comrades, evaporated in grim humor and drollery. The Spanish 
troops spared no age, rank, or sex. "Most piteous," says Guiciar- 
dini, **were the shrieks and lamentations of the women of Rome, 
and no less worthy of compassion the deplorable condition of nuns 
and novices, whom the soldiers drove along by troops out of their 
convents, that they might satiate their brutal lust. . . . Amid this 
female wail were mingled the hoarser clamors and groans of unhappy 
men, whom the soldiers subjected to torture, partly to wrest from 
them unreasonable ransom, and partly to compel the disclosure of 
the goods which they had concealed." 

The sack of Rome continued ten days. **It was reported," says 
Guiciardini, ''that the booty taken might be estimated at a million 
of ducats ; but the ransoms of the prisoners amounted to a far larger 
sum." The number of victims is estimated at from five thousand to 
ten thousand. According to the testimony of their own historians, 
the population thus terribly afflicted were weakened beyond measure 
by effeminacy and vice. They are described by Vettpri as ' ' proud, 
avaricious, murderous, envious, luxurious, and hypocritical." The 
"Memoirs of Benvenuto Cellini," a Roman of the early part of the 
sixteenth century, give a dark picture of the sacerdotal city at that 
period. Ranke declares that it contained "thirty thousand inhab- 
itants capable of bearing arms," and that "many of these had seen 
serv^ice. " But of what use were arms when there was neither bravery 
nor manhood in their breasts ? If a spark of courage had lingered 
in their hearts they could have prevented the advance of the enemy 
to their city, or driven him from the walls after he appeared. 

This stroke fell on Rome in the meridian of her mediaeval glory, 
and in a few days almost annihilated a splendor which centuries had 
produced, and which the centuries that have since followed have not 
been able to restore. Such a great calamity, under other circumstances, 
would have been regarded as the unrestrained excesses of a licentious 
soldiery, and might have excited compassion for the captive pope ; 
but the Italians at this time were not in sympathy with the Romish 
hierarchy. There was a general conviction that the wars which had 
so long desolated Italy were chiefly to be ascribed to the resentment 
and ambition of the reigning pontiffs. The conduct of Clement was 
considered by the people as a natural result of that judicial blindness 
which God sends upon wicked rulers to hasten their overthrow. The 
disasters that afflicted the papal See and the city of Rome were inter- 
preted as marks of the divine displeasure, and the invaders who 
insulted and plundered them were regarded as heralds employed to 



THE ROTA ROMANA, 231 

pronounce the judgments of Heaven against an incorrigible court and 
a city defiled and desecrated by wickedness of every kind. 

The misfortunes of the fallen pope did not excite much commis- 
eration for him, because the prevailing opinion was that he had been 
punished, not only for his sins, but also for his folly in provoking 
a powerful enemy whom he could not resist, and in precipitating 
a war for which he was not prepared. These were not merely the 
sentiments of the vulgar, or of such as had already embraced the 
doctrines of the Reformation ; they were also entertained by dignita- 
ries of the Romish Church, and uttered within the walls of the 
Vatican. A remarkable instance of this occurred at the first meet- 
ing of the ** Apostolical Rota" held after Rome was delivered from 
the army of Charles V. The Rota, or Rota Romania, is the highest 
papal court of appeals, consisting of twelve members, and holding a 
session twice a week. It derives its name (which signifies a wheel), 
according to some, from the fact that the room in the pope's palace 
in which this court meets has a floor in which are inlaid marble slabs 
having the shape of a wheel. According to others, it is so named 
because in ancient Rome a round public building stood on the spot 
Avhere this tribunal was first established. Other supreme courts, as, 
for example, that of Genoa, have borne the same name. 

In this memorable meeting of the Rota, soon after the disappear- 
ance of the foreign army, Staphylo, bishop of Sibari, made a speech, 
in which he described the devastations committed by the enemy, and 
then proceeded in the following strain: "But whence, I pray, have 
these things proceeded ? and why have such calamities befallen us ? 
Because all flesh have corrupted their ways ; because we are citizens, 
not of the holy city of Rome, but of Babylon, the wicked city. 
The word of the Lord, spoken by Isaiah, is accomplished in our 
times — ' How is the faithful city become an harlot !* It was full of 
judgment and holiness ; righteousness formerly dwelt in it ; now sac- 
rilegious persons and murderers ! Formerly it was inhabited by a 
holy nation, a peculiar people ; but now by the people of Gomorrah, 
a depraved seed, wicked children, unfaithful priests, the companions 
of thieves. Lest any should suppose," continued the bishop, ''that 
this prophetic oracle was fulfilled long ago in the overthrow of the 
Babylonish Jerusalem by the Roman emperors, Vespasian and Titus, 
seeing the words appear to refer to the time in which the prophet 
lived, I think it proper to observe, agreeably to ecclesiastical verity, 
that future things were set before the eyes of the prophet's mind as 
present. This is evident from the sacred writings throughout. * The 



232 ^ ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

daughter of Zion shall be forsaken and made desolate by the violence 
of the enemy.' This daughter of Zion the apostle John, in the book 
of Revelation, explains as meaning, not Jerusalem, but the city of 
Rome, as appears from looking into his description. For John, or 
rather the angel, explaining to John the vision concerning the judg- 
ment of the whore, represents this city as meant by Babylon. ' The 
woman Avhich thou sawest is that great city which reigns [he refers 
to a spiritual reign] over the kings of the earth.' Again, John says, 
* She sits on seven hills;' which applies properly to Rome, called from 
ancient times the seven-Jiilled city. She is also said to ' sit on many 
waters;' which signify people, nations, and various languages, of 
which, as we see, this city is composed more than any other city 
of the Christian world. He says, also, * She is full of names of 
blasphemy, the mother of uncleanness, fornications, and abomina- 
tions of the earth.' This supersedes the necessity of any more 
specific proof that Rome is the city referred to ; seeing these vices, 
though they prevail every-where, have fixed their seat and empire 
with us." 

If the mind of a bishop was so deeply impressed by the event 
which had occurred, and such sentiments uttered within the hearing 
of the sovereign pontiff, what must have been the feelings and lan- 
guage of those who were less interested in the maintenance of the 
ecclesiastical monarchy, and who were still greater sufferers from the 
tyranny and ambition of those who administered its affairs? The 
minds of the people had been long overawed by the mysterious veil 
of sanctity ; but this had been removed, and they beheld the real char- 
acter of the priesthood. They professed to be the teachers and guar- 
dians of the religion of Christ ; but their conduct was inconsistent with 
its precepts, and their claims to superior piety were arrogant and 
unfounded. The names ** heretic" and '* Lutheran," which had 
thrilled the Italians with horror, were now heard with complacency, 
and the minds of the people were even prepared to listen to the 
teachers of the reformed doctrine, who were emboldened to preach 
and make proselytes in a more public manner than they had hitherto 
ventured to do. *'In Italy, also," says Fra Paolo, the historian of 
the Council of Trent, speaking of this period, "as there had neither 
been pope nor papal court at Rome for nearly two years, and as 
most men looked on the calamities which had fallen on both as the 
execution of a divine judgment- on account of the corruptions of its 
government, many listened with avidity to the Reformation; in 
several cities, and particularly at Faenza, which was situated within 



THE REFORM A TION IN VENICE. 233 

the territories of the pope, sermons were deHvered in private houses 
against the Church of Rome ; and the number of those named 
Lutherans, or, as they called themselves, Evangelicals, increased 
every day." 

That these sermons were not confined to private houses, and that 
the reformed doctrine was publicly preached in Italy before A. D. 
1530, is evident from the highest authority. ''From the report made 
to us," says Pope Clement VII, **we have learned with great grief 
of heart that, in different parts of Italy, the pestiferous heresy of 
Luther prevails to a high degree, not only among secular persons 
but also among ecclesiastics and the regular clergy, both mendicant 
and non-mendicant, so that some, by their discourses and conversa- 
tion, and what is worse, by their public preaching, infect numbers with 
this disease, greatly scandalize faithful Christians, who live under the 
obedience of the Roman Church and observe its laws, and contribute 
to the increase of heresies, the stumbling of the weak, and the no 
small injury of the Catholic faith." These indications, while they 
alarmed the friends of the papacy, encouraged those who had espoused 
the cause of the Reformation. The latter built their hopes upon the 
national character of the Italians, whose ardent minds would nat- 
urally lead them to propagate the new opinions with more than 
ordinary zeal. 



Chapter XII. 

THE REFORMATION IN VENICE. 



IT is natural to suppose that the northern portions of Italy, owing 
to their proximity to Switzerland and Germany, the countries 
of Zwingle, Bucer, OEcolampadius, Luther, and Melancthon, would 
be the first to receive the truths of the Reformation. Such is the 
historical fact, and it will be proper, therefore, in relating the prog- 
ress of the reform movement in Italy, to commence at the north, 
especially when the geographical and the chronological so nearly 
coincide. 

Of all the states of Italy Venice afforded the best facilities for the 
dissemination of the new doctrines, and the safest asylum for those 
who suffered in the defense of them. In no other part was there 
so much liberty of religious opinion. That sea-girt city kad risen to 
opulence and power ; and, in order to encourage strangers to visit her 



234 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

ports and markets, she conceded more than ordinary freedom of 
speech and action. She was truly the head of a powerful commer- 
cial republic, whose ships did business in all seas, and whose trade 
extended to almost every seaport in the civilized world. Extensive 
intercourse with others always generates a tolerant spirit. It was 
not strange, therefore, that the rich and proud aristocracy, who had 
control of the government, were liberal and enlightened. The senate, 
fully aware of the ambitious and encroaching spirit of the Romish 
See, uniformly opposed every effort to establish the Inquisition, and 
manifested great caution in permitting the edicts of the Vatican to be 
published or carried into effect within the Venetian territories. In 
fact, the republic of Venice, among Roman Catholic governments, in 
its policy of religious toleration somewhat resembled that of Hol- 
land among the Protestant states. She was distinguished, too, for 
the number of her printing-presses, and, while letters were cultivated 
elsewhere for mere literary entertainment or to gratify the vanity of 
their patrons, the Venetians encouraged them from the additional 
consideration of their forming an important, and not unproductive, 
branch of manufacture and merchandise. The books of the German 
and Swiss Protestants were consigned to merchants at Venice, from 
which they were circulated to the different parts of Italy ; and it was 
in this city, as we indicated in a previous chapter, that versions 
of the Bible and other religious books, in the vulgar tongue, were 
chiefly printed. 

We have already stated that the first writings of Luther were read 
in Venice soon after they were published. In a letter written A. D. 
1528 the reformer says to a friend, *' You give me joy by Avhat you 
write of the Venetians receiving the Word of God. To him be the 
thanks and the glory!" During the following year he corresponded 
with James Ziegler, a learned man, celebrated for his skill in mathe- 
matics, geography, and natural history, and a publisher of the prin- 
cipal works of the ancients on these subjects. He had great authority 
at Venice, and was favorable to the Reformation, though he never 
publicly enlisted under its banner. His adopted brother, Theodore 
Veit, was sent by him to Wittemburg, and was for some time the 
secretary or amanuensis of Luther. This is the individual so often 
mentioned under the name of Theodorus Vitus in the letters of 
Melancthon, and through whom these leaders of the Reformation in 
Germany chiefly received their intelligence respecting the Protestant 
cause in Italy. An incident occurred, A. D. 1530, indicating that 
many in Venice at that time were deeply interested in the good 



7? OSSELW S LE TTER. 235 

work. It was widely reported that Cardinal Campeggio, who was 
the papal legate to the imperial diet at Augsburg, had persuaded 
Melancthon to submit to the judgment of the pope. This pro- 
duced great excitement and uneasiness among those Venetians who 
advocated reform, one of whom, Lucio Paolo Rosselli, addressed a 
letter to Melancthon, expressing the highest regard for his character, 
and the delight which his writings had afforded him. In respectful 
language, but with an honest freedom, he exhorted him to remain a 
firm and fearless defender of that faith to which he had been the 
honored instrument of winning so many. 

*'In this cause," continues Rosselli, ''you ought to regard 
neither emperor nor pope, nor any other mortal, but the immortal 
God only. If there be any truth in what the papists circulate about 
you, the worst consequences must accrue to the Gospel and to those 
who have been led to embrace it through your instrumentality and 
that of Luther. Be assured that all Italy waits v/ith anxiety for the 
result of your assembly at Augsburg. Whatever is determined by 
it will be embraced by Christians in other countries through the 
authority of the emperor. It behooves you others, who are there for 
the purpose of defending the Gospel, to be firm, and not to suffer 
yourselves to be either frightened from the standard of Christ by 
threats, or drawn from it by entreaties and promises. I implore and 
obtest you, as the head and leader of the whole evangelical army, to 
regard the salvation of every individual. Though you should be 
called to suffer death for the glory of Christ, fear not, I beseech you ; 
it is better to die with honor than to live in disgrace. You shall 
secure a glorious triumph from Jesus Christ if you defend his right- 
eous cause; and, in doing this, you may depend on the aid of the 
prayers and supplications of many who, day and night, entreat 
Almighty God to prosper the cause of the Gospel, and to preserve 
you and its other champions through the blood of his Son. Fare- 
well, and desert not the cause of Christ." This zealous Venetian 
Protestant wrote a second time to Melancthon, and inclosed a copy 
of the letter which the latter was said to have addressed to the 
papal legate, exhorting him, if he had unhappily been induced to 
express sentiments unworthy of his character, to exhibit the greater 
courage and constancy in the future ; but, if the report had been 
fabricated, as many of his friends declared, then he should imme- 
diately expose the malicious calumny, and henceforth openly and 
boldly attack an enemy which employed stratagem and falsehood to 
accomplish its ends. 



236 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Pietro Carnesecchi, Baldo Lupetino, and Baltassare Altieri, were 
among the most active in promoting the doctrines of the Reforma- 
tion at Venice. The first was a patrician of Florence, and also a 
former secretary of Clement VII, and his name was finally enrolled 
among the martyrs of Italy. The second, who likewise obtained the 
crown of martyrdom, was a native of Albona, of noble extraction, 
and highly esteemed for his learning and worth. As provincial of 
the Franciscans within the Venetian territories, he had the most 
favorable opportunities of imparting religious instruction and of pro- 
tecting those who had received it. He persuaded Matteo Flacio, a 
kinsman of his, to abandon his resolution of assuming the monastic 
garb, and induced him to retire into Germany, where he became dis- 
tinguished for his learned writings, and the active though intemperate 
part which he took in the internal disputes that agitated the Lutheran 
Church. Altieri, though a native of Aquila in Naples, resided in 
Venice, and for some time acted as the secretary of the English embas- 
sador and afterwards as agent for the Protestant princes of Germany. 
He was ardently devoted to the Protestant cause, and his official 
station enabled him to promote it by introducing books into Italy, 
holding epistolary correspondence with foreign courts, and both advis- 
ing and assisting those of his countrymen who had embraced or were 
inquiring after the truth. 

So great was the progress of evangelical religion in Venice be- 
tween A. D. 1530 and A. D. 1542 that its numerous friends, who 
had held their meetings in private for mutual instruction and religious 
exercises, began to consider the propriety of organizing themselves 
into regular congregations, and of assembling in public. As several 
members of the senate were favorable to it, hopes were entertained 
at one time that the government would sanction the measure. In 
the beginning of A. D. 1538, Michele Bracchioli went from Italy to 
Wittemberg to have a religious interview with Melancthon, who greatly 
admired his elegant taste and refined manners. Having received in- 
formation that his brother was in danger of proscription, he returned 
home to Germany unexpectedly within a year, and delivered a mes- 
sage to Melancthon from the friends of the Reformation in Venice. 

This communication encouraged him to address a letter to the 
senate, in which he expressed the great pleasure that he had expe- 
rienced when hearing of the favorable opinion entertained by many 
honorable persons among them, concerning the reform of ecclesias- 
tical abuses which had been made in Germany. He declared in a few 
words, how cautiously the leaders of the Reformation had proceeded 



THE REFORMA TION AD VANCING. 237 

by avoiding dangerous innovations and repressing popular tumults. 
After showing that various corruptions had been introduced into the 
Church, Melancthon adds: "Such slavery surely ought not to be 
established, as that we should be obliged, for peace's sake, to ap- 
prove of all the errors of those who govern the Church ; and learned 
men especially ought to be protected in the liberty of expressing 
their opinions and of teaching. As your city is the only one in the 
world which enjoys a genuine aristocracy, preserved through many 
ages and always hostile to tyranny, it becomes it to protect good 
men in freedom of thinking, and to discourage that unjust cruelty 
which is exercised in other places. Wherefore I can not refrain from 
exhorting you to employ your care and authority for advancing the 
divine glory, a service which is most acceptable to God." 

It is evident that if Venice had then received the same treatment 
from the court of Rome that it did at the commencement of the 
seventeenth century the republic probably would have declared in 
favor of the Reformation; and, if such an event had occurred, how 
different might have been its history, as well as that of other por- 
tions of Italy ! It might at that day have enjoyed its political inde- 
pendence, if not also regained its ancient glory. 

Not only did the Protestant cause advance in the metropolis, but: 
it spread also in many cities of the Venetian territories. At Padua it; 
was embraced by many of the students and some of the professors, 
of the university, which was celebrated at that period as a medical 
school. At Veivna and at Brescia there were converts to the reformed 
faith, while the bishop of Bergamo, Vittore Soranzo, was favorable- 
to evangelical doctrine, and exerted himself in reforming his clergy. 
But Vicenza and Treviso, situated in the neighborhood of Venice, 
contained the greatest number of Protestants. A German, named, 
Sigismund, was delivered up to the vicar-general of Vicenza, A. D.. 
1535' by the doge, to be punished for disseminating the Lutheran 
heresy in that diocese, and Paul III, in a pontifical brief, formally 
thanked his excellency for this act of filial obedience. But suchs 
severe measures only created the more sympathy for the reformed, 
opinions, which were patronized, or at least protected, by the local 
magistrates. Ten years later (A. D. 1545), the reigning pontiff in- 
formed the doge and senate that he had repeatedly notified them, by 
letters and nuncios, of the existence of heresy in their city of Vicenza,. 
and that the governor and magistrates of that place, though instructed, 
to co-operate with their bishop in extirpating it, had refused to ren- 
der that assistance which was necessary to accomplish this holy work. 



238 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

so that the heretics were encouraged, and would spread the pesti- 
lence in surrounding cities, unless promptly arrested and punished. 

Altieri addressed a letter to Luther, A. D. 1542, "In the name 
of the brethren of the Church of Venice, Vicenza, and Treviso," 
confessing their neglect in not acknowledging their deep obligations 
to him who had brought them to the knowledge of salvation. He 
said that they were ashamed, and could not account for their silence, 
unless it was that their sudden emancipation had astounded their 
minds, or timidity and dread had deterred them from addressing so 
grave and holy a personage. But now they were driven by neces- 
sity and the urgency of their circumstances to do that which culpable 
negligence and ingratitude had hitherto prevented them from per- 
forming. He presented a dark picture of their situation. Antichrist 
had commenced to rage against them. Some of their brethren had 
been compelled to leave the country, others were cast into prison, 
and the rest were in a state of constant alarm. As members of the 
same body, they expected to receive sympathy and assistance from 
their German brethen, who had persuaded them to renounce popery 
and espouse that cause for the sake of which they were now exposed 
to such imminent danger. They entreated him to use his influence 
with the evangelical princes of Germany to write in their behalf to 
the senate of Venice, requesting it to abstain from that violence 
which the ministers of the pope urged it to employ against the poor 
flock of Christ, and to permit them to enjoy their own manner of 
worship, at least until the assembling of a general council, in the 
way of adopting measures to prevent all sedition and disturbance of 
the public peace. *'If God grant," continues Altieri, "that we 
obtain a truce of this kind, what accessions will be made to the 
kingdom of Christ in point of faith and charity ! How many preach- 
ers will appear to announce Christ faithfully to the people ! How 
many prophets, who now lurk in corners, exanimated with undue 
fears, will come forth to expound the Scriptures ! The harvest is truly 
great, but there are no laborers. You know what a great increase 
your Churches had, and what a wide door was opened for the Gos- 
pel, by the truce which, as we understand, you have enjoyed for 
three years. Exert yourselves to procure the same favor for us; 
cherish the common cause ; do your endeavor, that by this means 
the consolation which is by Christ may be imparted to us, who daily 
suffer for Christ; for it is our fervent desire that the Word of God 
may be spread abroad, but we have none to feed us, unless our want 
be supplied out of your abundance." 



MILAN WELCOMES THE REFORMATION. 239 



Chapter XIII. 

MILAN RECEIVING THE GOSPEL. 

THE duchy of Milan was in a favorable state for receiving the 
Reformation. Several causes contributed to its propagation in 
this interesting portion of Italy. The people were not ignorant of 
the resistance which that diocese had made to the arrogant claims of 
the bishops of Rome during the first ten centuries. The struggle 
which Milan, the capital of Lombardy, had anciently maintained for 
its ecclesiastical independence, continued to be remembered long 
after its submission to the Roman See. This circumstance, together 
with the natural advantages of the country, attracted to it those who 
dissented from the doctrines or declined the communion of the Rom- 
ish Church. As the Milanese bordered on Switzerland, the writings 
of Zwingle and Bucer were early circulated among them and widely 
diffused. Their proximity to Piedmont (the residence of the Wal- 
denses for centuries) also enabled them to be acquainted with evan- 
gelical truth. To these causes may be added the political state of 
the duchy. A protracted contest for its control was carried on 
between Francis I and Charles V, and it was alternately occupied by 
the armies of the contending monarchs, in which were many Protest- 
ant soldiers, who extensively spread the reformed doctrines among the 
people. Paul III addressed a brief to the bishop of Modena, A. D. 
1536, stating that he was informed of the recent discovery, in the 
religious and illustrious duchy of Milan, of conventicles, consisting 
of noble persons of both sexes, belonging to a sect holding and 
observing the tenets of one friar Batista de Crema, by which many 
heresies, condemned by the ancient Church, were fostered. The 
pope, therefore, commanded the bishop, who was then at Milan, to 
make inquisition after these conventicles and heretics, and to see that 
condign punishment was inflicted on the guilty, so that "the corrupt 
seed sown by the devil might be extirpated before it had time to 
shoot up and strengthen." Though the ''impure tenets of ancient 
heretics" are imputed to these wicked ''innovators," according to 
the usual language of the Church of Rome, there can be little doubt 
.that they held the common opinions of Luther and Zwingle. 

This part of Italian history is closely connected with some inter- 



240 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

esting facts in the life of Celio Secundo Curio, the most distinguished 
propagator of the evangehcal faith, whose career was altogether more 
remarkable than that of any of those who embraced the doctrines of 
the Reformation in Italy. He was born at Turin, A. D. 1503, and 
was the youngest of twenty-three children. At the early age of nine 
years he was left an orphan, but being connected with several noble 
families in Piedmont, he received a liberal education at the university 
of his native city. In his youth he lost his father, who bequeathed 
to him the best of legacies — a copy of the Bible, beautifully bound; 
and the reading of the sacred volume made a deep impression upon 
his mind. When he reached his twentieth year he obtained the writ- 
ings of the reformers, by means of Jeronimo Negri, of Fossano, who 
with some others in the Augustinian monastery of Turin, had come 
to the knowledge of the truth. This awakened in him an ardent 
desire to visit Germany, and, accordingly, he started in company with 
Giacomo Cornello and Francesco Guarino, who afterwards became 
distinguished ministers of the Reformed Church. 

During their journey they injudiciously engaged in a religious con- 
troversy, and, having been reported to the proper authorities, they 
were arrested by the spies of the cardinal bishop of Ivree, and 
thrown into separate prisons. Through the solicitations of his rela- 
tions Curio was released, and the cardinal, admiring his talents, 
endeavored to attach him to himself by offering him pecuniary assist- 
ance in his studies, and by placing him in the neighboring priory of 
St. Benigno, with the administration of which he had been intrusted 
by the late Pope Leo X. While in this situation Curio was diligently 
employed in instructing the monks and delivering them from the 
bondage of superstition. He one day opened a box, placed on the 
altar of the chapel, and having abstracted the relics from it, substi- 
tuted a copy of the Bible, with the following inscription: ''This is 
the ark of the covenant which contains the oracles of God, the true 
relics of the saints." When the relics were needed on the next 
solemn festival the trick was discovered, and Curio, being suspected, 
fled and escaped to Milan, A. D. 1530. He visited Rome and several 
other Italian cities and then returned to Milan, where he married a 
lady belonging to the illustrious family of the Isacii, and by devoting 
himself to the teaching of polite letters acquired a great reputation 
in the city and vicinity of Milan. The Spanish troops having com- 
mitted ravages, Curio was compelled to leave Milan, and accepted 
an invitation from the count of Montferrat, under whose protection 
he resided some years in peace at Casale. 



AN INGE N 10 US DE VICE. 24 1 

Desiring to recover his patrimony, he resolved to visit his native 
country; but, on his arrival, he found that one of his sisters and her 
husband had seized it, and, in order to defeat his legal claims the 
most effectually, they preferred a charge of heresy against him. 
Curio, rather than engage in litigation, retired to a village in the 
territories of the duke of Savoy, where he was employed in teaching 
the children of the neighboring gentlemen. In company with some 
of his patrons, he went one day to hear a Dominican monk from 
Turin, who, in the course of his sermon, presented a terrible picture 
of the character of the German reformers, and, in proof of his accu- 
sations, he read false quotations from a work published by Luther. 
After the sermon Curio, who happened to have in his possession the 
book, showed it to the friar, and then read the passages referred to 
in the presence of the most respectable part of the congregation, who 
were so indignant at the misrepresentations of the impudent and dis- 
honest monk that they drove him, in disgrace, from the town. The 
inquisitor was immediately notified, and, having arrested Curio, he 
sent him to his native city. His enemies, resolving to magnify his 
crime and secure his conviction, rehearsed his proposed journe}^ to 
Germany and his abstracting of the relics at St. Benigno. As his 
friends were numerous and influential, the administrator of the bish- 
opric of Turin went to Rome to secure his condemnation. To 
prevent any attempt at rescue, a brother of Cardinal Cibo, who had 
charge of him, removed him to an inner room of the prison, and 
ordered his feet to be made fast in the stocks. Any other person of 
less ingenuity and fortitude in such a situation would have abandoned 
all hope; but Curio, in his youth, had resided in the vicinity of the 
jail, and he believed a method of escape could be devised. In a 
short time the plan was matured, and, through the favor of Prov- 
idence, was effectual. 

The prisoner's feet being swollen by confinement, he persuaded 
his keeper to release his right foot for a day or two, and then, by 
taking his shoe, together with a reed and a quantity of rags, which 
were within his reach, he constructed an artificial leg, which he 
attached to his right knee so adroitly that he could move it with ease 
and without detection. Having obtained permission to have his 
other foot relieved, he inserted the artificial limb into the stocks. 
Both his feet were now at liberty, and during the following night he 
forced the door of his apartment, felt his way through the dark pass- 
ages, dropped from a window, and having scaled the walls of his 
prison with difficulty, escaped into Italy. He had extracted the 



242 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

fictitious limb from the stocks and taken it to pieces before leaving 
the prison, so that his persecutors might not understand the method 
of his deliverance. They attributed it to magic, but he dispelled the 
mystery by publishing an account of the whole circumstance in the 
form of a dialogue, which contains some humorous and satirical stric- 
tures upon certain papal errors. It was first issued without date or 
place of publication; but was reprinted at Geneva, A. D. 1667. After 
remaining some months with his family at Sale, a remote village in 
the territory of Milan, he was persuaded by his former friends to 
abandon his seclusion and enter the University of Pavia. When the 
inquisitors received this information, orders were sent from Rome to 
arrest him ; but they could not be executed. The principal inhab- 
itants of the town and the students, many of whom had come from 
other seminaries to attend his lectures, esteemed Curio so highly that 
they protected him for nearly three years, a guard composed of his 
scholars accompanying him to and from his residence every day dur- 
ing a greater part of that time. At last, when the pope threatened 
the senate of Pavia with excommunication if he was not delivered up, 
he retired to Venice, from which he removed to Ferrara. 



Chapter XIV. 

MANTUA— L O CARNO—ISTRIA—FERRJiRA. 

MANTUA, which in the sixteenth century gave birth to several 
persons of distinguished talents, did not shut out the light of 
the Reformation. At an early period warm friends of the evangelical 
faith were found there, not only in the capital, but throughout the 
duchy. Many groaned under the tyranny which oppressed the 
human mind, and made a generous effort to break asunder their 
chains. Among these was Gianbattista Folengo, a pious and liberal 
Benedictine, who earnestly desired to heal the schism which afflicted 
the Church by an extensive reformation among both secular and 
regular clergy. Cardinal Gonzaga, bishop of Mantua, manifested the 
same disposition to correct existing evils, and even protected those 
who denounced the errors of the Romish hierarchy. He was severely 
reprimanded by the pope; and, as late as A. D. 1545, Paul HI 
addressed him a fervent epistle to stimulate his slumbering zeal, 
stating that he had heard of certain ignorant clergymen and artisans 



THE REFORMA TION IN LO CARNO. 243 

fti the city of Mantua, who had ruined their own souls, and brought 
great scandal on others, by rashly daring to dispute, and even to 
doubt, of matters belonging to the Roman Catholic doctrine, its arti- 
cles of belief, and its holy rites. He then exhorts the bishop to 
proceed personally, or through his deputies, against all persons sus- 
pected of heresy, including the clergy, secular and regular, of every 
order in the city of Mantua, and throughout the whole diocese ; to 
ascertain whether they have read or possess any heretical books, or 
if they have taught any opinion condemned by the Church ; to take 
the depositions of witnesses, seize the persons of the accused or sus- 
pected, examine them by the torture, and, having brought the proc- 
esses as far as the definitive sentence, to transmit the whole in 
authentic shape to Rome for judgment. For some time the reigning 
duke shielded his subjects from this persecuting edict, and incurred 
the displeasure of the pope. 

Locarno is a city of Italy, and the capital of a province or baili- 
wick of the same name, situated on Lake Maggiore, in the southern 
confines of the Alps. It, with three other provinces, was given by 
Maximilian Sforza, duke of Milan, A. D. 15 13, to the Swiss cantons 
for the military aid they had rendered him, and was governed by a 
prefect whom the cantons sent by turns every two years. The ter- 
ritory was small, but its inhabitants had considerable wealth, derived 
from the advantages of their location, as they were carriers in the 
trade maintained between Italy and Switzerland. As early as A. D. 
1526 the truths of the Reformation were introduced into Locarno by 
Baldassare Fontana. For several years the number of converts was 
small. ''There are but three of us here," says that devoted servant 
of Christ, in a letter to Zwingle, ''who have enlisted and confeder^ 
ated in the cause of propagating the truth. But Midian was not: 
vanquished by the multitudes of brave men who flocked to the stand- 
ard of Gideon, but by a few selected for that purpose by God.. 
Who knows but what he may kindle a great fire out of this incon- 
siderable smoke ? It is our duty to sow and plant ; the Lord must 
give the increase." 

Twenty years later the fruit of the prayers and labors of these 
good men appeared, perhaps, long after they had received the 
heavenly crown. The work commenced by them was taken up by 
Benedetto Locarno, A. D. 1546, who returned to his native place; 
after he had been employed in preaching the Gospel in various parts 
of Italy and in the island of Sicily. His efforts to enlighten his 
townsmen were earnestly seconded by Giovanni Beccaria, commonly 

17 



244 ^^^^ ^ ^^^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

called the apostle of Locarno, who was a man of good character and 
excellent talents. He had discovered the principal errors and cor- 
ruptions of the Church of Rome by studying the Bible, without the 
aid of a teacher or any human writings. In a short time he was 
assisted by four prominent individuals, who had the true spirit of 
confessors, and actively labored in the noble cause. Varnerio Cas- 
tiglione spared neither time nor effort in promoting the truth ; Lu- 
dovico Runcho, a citizen of great respectability, nobly defended the 
evangelical doctrines. Taddeo de Dunis, a physician, and, like 
Runcho, a young man of courage and genius, and Martino de 
Muralto, a doctor of laws, and of aristocratic descent, contributed to 
the success of the reform movement by their influence in the prov- 
ince. In the course of four years the Protestants of Locarno had 
become a strong Church, were regularly organized, and received the 
sacraments at the hands of a pastor whom they called from the 
Church of Chiavenna. The daily increase of the membership 
excited the chagrin and envy of the clergy, who were earnestly 
supported by the prefect appointed, A. D. 1549, by the popish 
canton of Underwald. The Locarnese Protestants were slandered 
by a priest residing in the neighboring province of Lugano, who was 
not only employed to denounce them from the pulpit, but also to 
challenge their preacher to a public discussion of the questions in 
controversy between the Churches. On the day of trial he was 
completely silenced ; and to revenge his defeat the prefect ordered 
Beccaria into prison. This persecution aroused such a feeling of 
indignation in the city that the prisoner was immediately discharged, 
and the enemies of Protestantism were compelled to wait for a more 
favorable opportunity of attack. 

The truths of Protestant Christianity were late in penetrating 
Istria, a peninsular district on the Adriatic Sea, then under the gov- 
ernment of the Venetian republic ; but their dissemination, after a 
commencement had been made, was rapid. The chief instruments 
in the good work were Pierpaolo Vergerio and Gianbattista, two 
brothers, both of whom were bishops in the Roman Catholic Church, 
and one of them a papal legate. They were natives of Capo d'Istria, 
and belonged to a family w^iich was distinguished for its literary 
reputation in the fifteenth century. We have already referred to 
Vergerio as a young man of excellent character and promising tal- 
ents, who desired to visit Wittemberg to complete his studies. After 
acquiring a knowledge of law, he received the degree of doctor from 
the University of Padua, in which he served for a time as professor 



VERGERIO. 245 

and as vicar to the podesta. He subsequently located at Venice, 
where he became celebrated as an advocate. His fame for eloquence 
and address was such that Pope Clement VH sent him into Germany 
as legate to Ferdinand, king of the Romans, at whose court he re- 
mained for some years, laboring to promote the interests of the 
Romish See, and opposing the progress of Lutheranism, When 
Clement died his successor, Paul HI, recalled Vergerio; but, after 
hearing a statement of his embassy, sent him back to Germany, 
where he treated with the German princes, and had more than one 
interview with Luther concerning the proposed general council. 
Returning to Italy, A. D. 1536, he was appointed bishop of Modru- 
sium, in Croatia, an episcopal district under the patronage of Ferdi- 
nand, and afterwards held a similar position in Capo d ' Istria, his 
native place. He went to France, and appeared at the conference 
of Worms, A. D. 1541, in the name of his Christian Majesty, but, 
as some believed, with secret instructions from the pope. It is cer- 
tain that he prepared at this time an oration on the unity of the 
Church, in opposition to the idea of a national council, which was 
desired by the Protestants. 

During his residence in Germany Vergerio was favorably im- 
pressed with the doctrines of the Refonmation, but did not openly 
embrace them, because suspicions of his heresy were, as he had 
learned, entertained at Rome. It is asserted by Protestant writers 
that the pope intended to confer a cardinal's hat on him at his 
return, but the alleged unsoundness of his faith prevented its bestow- 
ment. This statement is denied by Pallavicini and Tiraboschi, 
Romish historians ; but they admit that his holiness was aware of 
Vergerio's familiarity with the German heretics, and that on this 
account he was summoned to Italy, where he became more fully 
convinced of the fact that he had displeased his superiors. Cardinal 
Bembo, in a letter to his nephew, who appears to have occupied a 
high official position in the Istrian government, declares that the 
bishop of Capo d'Istria had urged him *'to intercede for some of his 
relations, who had been unjustly thrown into prison." This was on 
the 24th of September, A. D. 1541, and on the ist of February fol- 
lowing Bembo expresses his satisfaction that this request had not 
been granted, adding: **I hear some things of that bishop, which, 
if true, are very bad — that lie not only has portraits of Lutherans 
in his house, but that also in the causes which come before him he 
is eager to favor in any way the one party, whether right or wrong, 
and to bear down the other." 



246 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

It was not easy for a person in Vergerio's circumstances to retire 
from the honorable situation which he held, and to sacrifice the 
bright prospects of promotion which he had long cherished. Be- 
sides, he did not have clear and steady views of the truth. After 
he had first abandoned the excitement of public life, and entered 
upon his episcopal duties, he resolved to complete a work which he 
had commenced ** against the apostates of Germany," expecting by 
its publication to remove the suspicions against his loyalty to the 
court of Rome. While writing this book, and examining those of 
the reformers, he was so impressed with the force of the objections 
which he was endeavoring to answer that he threw away the pen, 
and relinquished the undertaking in despair. With a burdened heart, 
and in hope of relief, he revealed his feelings to his brother, Gian- 
battista, bishop of Pola, in the same district, who was distressed by 
the communication. He conversed with his brother, and, after 
hearing the reason of his change of views, especially concerning 
justification, he became himself a convert to the Protestant doctrine. 
The two brothers had emerged from the valley of darkness and 
doubt, and a light from heaven shone into their understandings. 
The}- had been ignorant of the simple truth of salvation by faith, and, 
like the ''blind leading the blind," directed their hearers along the 
thorny paths of austerities and penances, which inflicted suffering, 
but afforded no peace. Having found the true and living way, they 
resolved to bring their flocks into it, by imparting instruction to 
them on the principal doctrines of the Gospel, and withdrawing their 
attention from those ceremonial services and bodily exercises Avhich 
they regarded as the whole of religion. These converted bishops, 
by their own personal labors, and the assistance of others who had 
previously obtained pardon from the great " High -priest, " were suc- 
cessful in inaugurating this reform. The sound of the old Gospel 
ravished the ears of the people as the silver trumpets of the ' ' Day 
of Jubilee" delighted God's ancient children, so that before A. D. 
1546 the greater part of the inhabitants of that district had cast ofl" 
the yoke of ceremonies, embraced the truths of the Reformation, 
and made considerable progress in the knowledge of the Christian 
doctrines. 

In many respects the history of the dissemination of evangelical 
opinions at Ferrara is the most interesting of any that has been 
written in connection with the Reformation in Italy. This city, at 
an early period, afforded protection to those Protestants who fled 
from various parts of that country and from foreign lands. Under 



THE COURT OF FERRARA. 247 

the government of its dukes, of the illustrious house of Este, it had 
for some time rivaled Florence in the encouragement of learning and 
the fine arts. Its natural advantages never could compare with those 
of Florence, or even Bologna, because it is situated in a plain, mo- 
notonous, insalubrious country. But this unfavorable circumstance 
did not prevent the court of Ferrara from being the resort of literary 
men, who delighted to enjoy the society of its wise dukes. Ariosto 
and Bernardo Tasso lived at the court of Alfonso I, and subsequently 
his more illustrious son, the author of ''Jerusalem Delivered," at 
the court of Ercole II, and consequently the genealogy and achieve- 
ments of the dukes of Ferrara have been transmitted to posterity 
by the most prominent poets of that age. While contemporary 
princes yielded patronage to men of letters out of regard to their 
own fame, and as a tribute to fashion, Hercules, who had received 
a good education, was actuated by personal judgment and feeling in 
his respect for them. 

The house of Este had been devoted to the Romish See, and 
labored to advance its interests; but recently, in several instances, 
had not been treated with proper regard by it. This sense of injury, 
however, was overcome, because there was an important reason why 
the Italian princes should be attached to the pope. Ippolito, a 
younger son of Duke Alfonso, and afterwards his nephew, Ludovico, 
were cardinals ; and from time immemorial a branch of the family 
had been represented in the sacred college. Accordingly, Alfonso 
had faithfully sustained Clement during his humiliation and calamity ; 
and his successor, though more liberal in his religious views than his 
father, carefully avoided offending the supreme pontiff. 

Hercules II (as he is more commonly called by English writers), 
duke of Ferrara, married the celebrated Renee, or Renata, daughter 
of Louis XII of France. This noble princess had been instructed in 
the reformed doctrine before leaving her native country by some of 
those learned persons who were frequent visitors at the court of the 
distinguished Margaret, queen of Navarre ; and she was anxious to 
have the evangelical religion introduced into the land to which she 
had removed. For some time she secretly entertained Protestants 
as literary men, her husband encouraging, or at least permitting, 
it. The first persons to whom she extended her protection and 
hospitality on this principle were her own countrymen, whom the 
violence of persecution had driven out of France. 

It was under her auspices that for several years Ferrara was a 
*' City of Refuge" to unfortunate scholars and persecuted Protestants, 



248 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

not only of France, but also of Italy. Several men of letters had 
been introduced into the court of France during the late reign by 
Madame de Soubise, the governess of the duchess. She now resided 
at the court of Ferrara with her son, Jean de Parthenai, Sieur de 
Soubise, afterwards a principal leader of the Protestant party in 
France ; her daughter, Anne de Parthenai, celebrated for her elegant 
taste ; and Antoine de Pons, count de Marennes, the future husband 
of this young lady, and a warm friend of the reformed cause until 
the death of his wife. The distinguished French poet, Clement 
Marot, fled from his native country, A. D. 1534, because the affair 
of the placaj'ds had excited persecution, and, after residing for a short 
time at the court of the queen of Navarre, in Beam, came to Ferrara. 
He was recommended by Madame de Soubise to the duchess, who 
made him her secretary ; and his friend, Lyon Jamet, finding it nec- 
essary soon after to follow him, met with a reception equally cordial. 
About the same time the great reformer, John Calvin, visited 
Ferrara, where he spent several months under the assumed name of 
Charles Heppeville. The duchess was confirmed in the Protestant 
faith by his instructions, and ever after retained the highest respect 
for his character and talents. The duke of Ferrara, though a Roman 
Catholic, did not yet manifest any opposition to the course pursued 
by his wife in entertaining the friends of the Reformation. Indeed, 
the hospitality of the court attracted many from various countries, 
embracing almost all the prominent Protestants of Italy, among 
whom may be mentioned Fulvio Peregrino Morata, from Mantua, 
the father of the celebrated Olympia Morata, of whom we shall 
speak more fully hereafter, and Celio Secundo Curio, of Turin, of 
whom we have spoken already. The most of the distinguished 
Protestants who spent a considerable length of time at Ferrara were 
either connected with the university, which was then in the zenith 
of its fame, having recovered from the disasters inflicted upon it by 
the civil wars of the family of Este, or employed as tutors in the 
household of the duke. These learned men, who educated his chil- 
dren, were the chief instruments in propagating the Protestant faith. 
While imparting instruction in every branch of polite letters and 
arts, they did not neglect to inculcate the "truth as it is in Jesus." 
Among the enlightened men who adorned the court of Ferrara were 
Celio Calcaquini, Lilio Giraldi, Bartolomeo Riccio, Marzello Palin- 
genio, and Marcantonio Flaminio — all of whom were elevated above 
the superstitions of their age, if they were not converts to the re- 
formed religion. 



PR O TESTA NTISM IN FERRARA. 249 

Paul III visited Ferrara A. D. 1543, and was present at a classical 
performance when the '^Adelphi" of Terence was acted by the 
youth of the family and the three daughters of the duke, the eldest 
of whom was only twelve and the youngest five years of age. While 
the pope was being amused by the juvenile princesses, he was not 
aware then of the religious sentiments of their teachers. Two broth- 
ers from Germany, Chilian and John Sinapi, instructed them in 
Greek, and, being Protestants, also taught them correct views of 
religion. Fulvio Peregrino Morata had been a successful teacher of 
youth in various parts of Italy, and was tutor to the two younger 
brothers of the duke. During the first part of his life the mind of 
Morata, like that of many of his learned countrymen, had been en- 
grossed with secular studies ; but meeting with Celio Secundo Curio, 
a refugee from Piedmont, he received from him the knowledge of 
evangelical truth and a profound conviction of the reality of religion. 
Morata calls Curio his "divine teacher — one sent of God to instruct 
him, as Ananias was sent to Paul." While Morata w^as highly 
esteemed for his integrity and culture, he became still more distin- 
guished as the father of Olympia Morata, the most enlightened 
woman of the age, whom he educated with all the zeal that parental 
love and professional enthusiasm could excite. The duchess, having 
observed her early proficiency in letters, selected her to be the com- 
panion of her eldest daughter, Anne, with whom she improved in 
every elegant and useful accomplishment. Olympia soon discovered 
that the blandishments and confusions of a court are not favorable 
for the cultivation of personal piety ; yet during her residence in the 
ducal palace she first obtained that knowledge of the Gospel which 
supported her under the trials and privations which she afterwards 
had to endure. 

It is impossible to ascertain the number of those in Ferrara who 
embraced the Protestant doctrines, but it probably varied at different 
times, according to the fluctuating politics of the duke and the meas- 
ures of religious constraint or toleration which were alternately 
adopted by the other states of Italy. It is said that they had sev- 
eral preachers as early as A. D. 1528; but whether they were per- 
mitted to preach publicly in churches or chapels, or hold their 
assemblies in private houses, we are not informed. They probably 
adopted the latter course ; but it is certain that their labors were 
successful, because such a large number of distinguished Protestants 
at Ferrara indicated it. Whatever progress the Gospel had made 
there was, however, owing to the decided patronage and encourage- 



250 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

ment of the duchess Renee. Indeed, the most eminent Itahans who 
accepted the new opinions, and were confirmed in their attachment 
to them, were indebted in one way or other to this noble woman. 
She was the second daughter of Louis XII, who may be considered, 
on many accounts, one of the best monarchs France has ever had ; 
who, when urged to renew the crusades against the poor Waldenses 
in Dauphiny, refused to do it, saying, *' They are better Christians 
than we are.'' Renee was born at Blois, A. D. 1510. Her mother 
was Anne of Brittany, widow of Charles VIII. Scarcely had she 
reached the age of three years when she was bereft of her mother, 
and at five she lost her father. She then had to depend upon the 
care of her brother-in-law, Francis I, who ascended the throne A. D. 
15 15. At an early age she was affianced to one prince, and then 
another, as policy dictated ; first to Ferdinand of Austria, then to 
Charles (afterwards Charles V, emperor of Germany), then to the 
king of England, then to Joachim, marquis of Brandenburg, and, 
lastly, to Ercole, or Hercules, whom, as we have stated, she mar- 
ried, A. D. 1527. 

It it said by historians that personally she was not beautiful ; but 
she possessed that which was far more valuable — **a strong intellect, 
a sound judgment, and great nobleness of soul, united with much 
tenderness of heart, and a remarkably amiable spirit." In her youth 
she manifested a striking fondness for those studies which are elevat- 
ing in their character. She made rapid advancement in both the 
exact and moral sciences, and had a thorough knowledge of the 
Greek and Latin languages. She conversed in the Italian with the 
same elegance and purity that she did in the French. Such a woman 
was Renee of France, whom God raised up to protect for a season 
the persecuted Protestants in Italy; and when she was prevented by 
her enemies from assisting the prostrate and bleeding cause of evan- 
gelical religion in that country she was permitted to return to her 
native land, and there offer an asylum to such of the poor persecuted 
Protestants of France as gathered around the walls of the castle in 
which she spent her declining years. 

This excellent woman unfortunately married a man who was in 
every respect unworthy of her. Ercole, or Hercules, was a bigoted 
Roman Catholic, and destitute of an independent spirit. The court 
of Rome had inflicted upon his father indignities and injuries, com- 
pelling him to wander for years as an exile, and serve in foreign 
armies as a soldier, in order to sustain existence. Before he could 
recover the estates belonging to him he was forced to ask pardon of 



MATTEO GENTILIS OF ANCONA. 25 1 

the infamous Alexander VI, and to many the worthless Lucretia 
Borgia, his daughter. An4 yet this son had neither the desire nor 
the ability to extricate his neck from the yoke which his house had 
so long worn, but was ever ready to cringe at the feet of the pope. 
During the first years of his marriage he seemed to have some 
affection for his amiable wife ; but after the death of his father and 
his own accession to the ducal throne he manifested a different dis- 
position toward her. He complied with the first solicitation from 
the pope and emperor, and entered into a league with them, by 
which he bound himself to remove from his court all the French who 
were suspected of heresy. The adoption of this league, A. D. 1536, 
was followed by the retirement of Madame de Soubise and her fam- 
ily, whose departure was deeply regretted by the duchess. Marot 
went to Venice, but soon after obtained permission to return to his 
native land. Lyon Jamet was allowed to remain with Renee, proba- 
bly because he was less known than Marot, and she appointed him 
her secretary after the departure of his friend. Morata returned to 
Ferrara A. D. 1539, and was readmitted to his professorship in the 
university. Concerning the movements of Hubert Lanquet, an 
accomplished scholar, and one of the first, or at least soundest, poli- 
ticians of his age, who became a Protestant while residing at -Ferrara, 
nothing definite has been recorded. 

Ancona deserves to be mentioned in connection with the Italian 
Reformation, because Matteo Gentilis and his two accomplished sons 
were born there. The father was compelled to leave his native 
country on account of his Protestant opinions, and settled in Carni- 
ola, where he followed his profession as a physician. The two sons, 
Alberic and Scipio, became eminent civilians. The former went to 
England, and was made professor of laws at Oxford. His brother 
held the same situation at Altorf, and, in addition to his legal knowl- 
edge, was celebrated for his poetical talents and skill in Biblical 
criticism. 



252 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 



Chapter XV. 

THE PROTESTANT CAUSE IN MOD EN A. 

AS Modena was under the government of the house of Este it 
is probable that its first acquaintance witli the evangeHcal doc- 
trines was owing to the same cause which. introduced them into Fer- 
rara. Among the early correspondents of Luther were several 
Modenese. One of these was Giovanni Francesco Virgin io, a native 
of Brescia, and author of a paraphrase on the Epistles of Paul to the 
Galatians and Hebrews, printed at Lyons, A. D. 1565. Sadolet and 
three other members of the sacred college were citizens of Modena, 
as were also Sigonio, the celebrated antiquary ; Castelvetro, a critic 
of great acuteness, and many others whose names often appear in the 
history of Italian literature. This city also possessed one of those 
academies which originated in such large numbers in Italy during the 
sixteenth century, and surpassed the old and well-endowed seminaries 
of science. Its founder was Giovanni Grillenzone, an enlightened 
ph}^sician, in whose house it assembled. Those who attended desired 
to promote their mutual improvement by conversation and the read- 
ing of papers on scientific and literary subjects. Afterwards lectures 
were introduced and became so famous, especially those of Franciscus 
Tortus, a learned Greek, as to attract young men from all parts of 
Italy to Modena. 

At an early period it was believed that the academy was under 
the infliuence of Protestant opinions. Tiraboschi, in his history of 
Italian literature, states that the proceedings against this society had 
their origin in one of those quarrels in which the literati of that age 
were often involved with the religious orders, and in the resentment 
of Annibale Caro against Castelvetro, a member of the academy, who 
had written a severe criticism on one of his poems. It is evident, 
however, that this opposition rested on a deeper foundation. Ac- 
cording to the ''Biblioteca Modenese," another work of Tiraboschi, 
which contains more ample details supported by the most authentic 
documents, the priests regarded the academy, front its beginning, as 
the source of heresy in Modena, while the academicians did not hesi- 
tate to express their contempt of the priests, and especially of the 
monks, on account of their ignorance and hypocrisy. Grillenzone, 



THE PRIESTS AND A CADEMICIANS. 253 

the originator of the academy, in a letter to Sadolet, accounts for 
the charges made against him by the monks, in these words: "My 
nature is such that I could never conceal my dipleasure at the con- 
duct of the idle, ignorant, and hypocritical." It is not strange that 
intelligent men employed these terms when a friar, preaching in the 
cathedral of Modena during Lent, A. D. 1530, committed the sacri- 
legious act of producing and reading to his audience a pretended let- 
ter from Jesus Christ, drawn up in the style of a papal brief, begin- 
ning with ''Jesus Episcopus. " 

Serafina, a canon regular of St. Augustine, preached in the cathe- 
dral church in December, A. D. 1537, and declared to his audience 
that the Lutheran errors had begun to spread in Modena, and in 
proof of his statement referred to a heretical book which he had ob- 
tained, saying that he had found it in the chamber of Lucrezia Pica, 
widow of Count Claudio Rangone.' He, along with the inquisitor of 
heretical pravity and the vicar of the diocese, examined it, and then 
endeavored to ascertain the author and also the individual who had 
brought it into the city. They traced it without much difficulty to 
Gadaldino, a printer and bookseller, but the author could not be dis- 
covered. It was generally believed that he was one of the members 
of the academy, several of whom boldly approved the book, and 
pronounced its doctrine both orthodox and edifying. It was pub- 
licly burnt at Rome, and every copy of it destroyed. At the mar- 
riage of a daughter of Niccolo Machelli, which soon after occurred, 
two masked persons entered the residence of the bride's father, who 
was a member of the academy, and, in the place of entertainment, 
recited a lengthy satire on the preacher Serafina. At the same time 
similar pasquinades were placarded on the pillars of the cathedral, the 
gate of the Dominican convent, and other public places in the city. 
The Countess Lucrezia, considering herself scandalized by the event, 
persuaded the duke to have two persons arrested, both tutors to two 
of the prominent families of the city, and thrown into prison, as the 
authors of this insult to the clergy. They were soon after released, 
because it could not be shown that any individual had been named 
as the object of the satire. 

While the clergy persevered in denouncing the new doctrines, the 
academicians resorted to their favorite method of retaliation, and 
often when annoyed by the ignorant harangues to which they were 
compelled to listen, they would arise in the congregation, criticise 
the sermon, and expose the preacher to the derision of the audience. 
Fra Serafina, having been absent for some time, ventured to return, 



t 

254 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

A. D. 1539, but was driven from the pulpit in disgrace. The monks 
could neither arrest the progress of the truth among the people nor 
prevent it from entering their own cloisters. A friar named Antonio- 
della Catellina preached a sermon with great applause during the 
feast of Pentecost, and though accused of heresy did not retract, but 
appeared again in the pulpit and defended the doctrine which he had 
taught. This alarmed the clergy and called forth a papal rescript 
commanding the inquisitor to strictly investigate the opinions of the 
religious orders established in the city. 

Such was the state of the public mind when Paolo Ricio came to 
Modena, A. D. 1540. He was born in Sicily, obtained the degree 
of doctor of theology at Naples, and belonged to the order of Minor 
Conventuals ; but in order that he might proclaim the Gospel with 
greater freedom, he abandoned the cowl and assumed the name of 
Lisea Fileno. The members of the academy cordially welcomed him, 
and he earnestly labored to find the friends of the Reformation in the 
city, whom he persuaded to meet for worship in a private house. 
His instructions confirmed them in the true faith, and attracted others 
to their standard. These results produced a great sensation in Mo- 
dena; the Bible was the common topic of conversation, and the peo- 
ple freely and eagerly discussed the questions in controversy between 
the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestants. ''Persons of all 
classes," says a contemporary popish historian, **not only the learned, 
but also the illiterate, and even women, whenever they met, in the 
streets, in shops, or in churches, disputed about faith and the doctrine 
of Christ, and all promiscuously tortured the sacred Scriptures, quot- 
ing Paul, Matthew, John, the Apocalypse, and all the doctors whose 
writings they never saw." 

The news of the progress of the Gospel in Italy reached Germany, 
and moved Bucer to write a letter of congratulation and advice to the 
disciples at Modena. The priests, beholding the effects of this relig- 
ious revolution, complained to the pope, and he remonstrated with 
the duke. Ricio, foreseeing the danger, had departed from Modena, 
but was arrested at the neighboring village of Staggio, and taken as 
a prisoner to Ferrara. There he made a public recantation of his 
opinions rather than be sent to Rome, where he expected no mercy. 
But this defection could not prevent the seed sown by him from 
germinating, because it had already taken deep root. The duke re- 
solved that these contentions should not be renewed, and therefore 
issued orders that the pulpit should not be occupied by any one with- 
out the permission of the vicar of the diocese ; but so great was the 



OCHINO A T MODENA—GIO VANNI DI POLITIANO. 255 

desire of the people to hear the Gospel preached that some of the 
clergy violated the rule, and were supported by the local magistrates, 
who wrote to the ducal court in their favor. The celebrated Ochino, 
whose career we shall describe in the proper place, visited Modena, 
A. D. 1540, and preached in the cathedral church to such a large 
audience that, according to the testimony of one who was present, 
"there was scarcely room to stand." The academicians urged him 
to remain during Lent, promising that he should have an opportunity 
to conduct the services, as the preacher who had been engaged for 
that season could be induced to yield his place to him; but Ochino 
declined. At this time his defection from the Roman Catholic faith 
was not known, but the priests were displeased at his method of 
preaching, so different from their own, and at the applause which it 
eHcited, especially from their adversaries of the academy. 

One of the most obnoxious of these was Giovanni di Politiano, 
called also de ' Berettari. In his youth he had secured the esteem of 
Cardinals Bembo and Bibbiena for his poetical talent, and was at this 
period a tutor to Camillo, a son of the distinguished Francesco Molza. 
As he was in priests' orders he preached in the house of his patron, 
and the citizens in large numbers attended the service after the 
departure of Ricio. A spy having reported that he presented three 
erroneous propositions in his exposition of Paul's Epistles, Politiano 
was accused of disloyalty to the papal Church. One of these prop- 
ositions was that prayers in an unknown tongue were not acceptable 
to God. The offender waited upon the inquisitors, and explained his 
w^ords ; but they were not satisfied, and summoned him to appear for 
trial. Declining to attend, he was excommunicated for contumacy. 
He immediately appealed to the pope, and through the influence of 
Molza, with Cardinal Farnese, the nephew of Paul III, the inquisitor 
was called to Rome. After a delay of several months a decision was 
rendered acquitting Politiano, or Berettari, who, on the ist of Octo- 
ber, A. D. 1 541, returned, along with his pupil, in triumph to Mo- 
dena ; but his enemies were vindictive, and, having commenced a new 
process against him at Rome, they obtained a verdict of "guilty." 
He was then sentenced to do penance privately in the presence of a 
few select individuals. 

During the progress of these events Cardinal Morone, bishop of 
Modena, was chiefly absent in Germany on missions from the pope. 
He had repeatedly heard of the spread of heresy in his diocese, and 
the reports made him the more uneasy, because he was aware of the 
corruptions in the Church, and cherished a deep regard for several 



256 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

of the Modenese, who were accused. In a letter to the duke of 
Ferrara, dated the 21st of November, A. D. 1541, he says: "Eight 
days ago I came to Modena to make residence at my Church, and 
to endeavor with the divine assistance to do all in my power, con- 
sistently with charity, to remove the bad fame which this city of your 
excellency has incurred, not only in Italy, but abroad, in reference to 
the modern novelties of opinion. I had proceeded so far in this affair, 
and brought it to some issue, when I received an order from his holi- 
ness to repair to Rome." While making another visit to his diocese, 
he writes on the 20th of May, A. D. 1542, to his friend. Cardinal Con- 
tarini: **I have found things which infinitely distress me, and while I 
perceive the danger, am quite at a loss as to the means by which I 
can extricate myself in the affairs of this flock which, with my blood, 
I would willingly secure to Christ and clear from public infamy. 
Wherever I go, and from all quarters, I hear that the city is become 
Lutheran. Your suspicions are not without foundation, for it can 
not be denied that much ignorance, joined with great audacity and 
little charity, reigns among the monks ; but against the other side 
are many violent suspicions and even some proofs, which I mean to 
verify, with the view of adopting the remedies which God may 
direct." And, on the 30th of July, he writes to the same person: 
"Yesterday a minister of that order frankly told me that their 
preachers would no longer go to Modena on account of the persecu- 
tion to which they were exposed from the academy, it being every- 
where spread abroad that the city is Lutheran." 



Chapter XVI. 

THE REFORMATION IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ITALY. 

FLORENCE, the capital of Tuscany, became greatly distinguished 
at the era of the revival of letters. No other Italian city con- 
tained so many enlightened citizens and such flourishing academies, 
while its university was not excelled in the number of its scholars 
and the encouragement which it gave to every branch of science and 
liberal art. But these studies did not promote either pure religion or 
genuine liberty. The cultivation of the fine arts in the "Middle 
Ages," by appealing chiefly to the senses, was intimately associated 
with superstition, and the first introduction of letters into Europe 



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m 



III 



inill'liiiiili;l!lii|i|liliil;lll:i^ 



258 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

contributed in many cases to the growth of extravagance and cor- 
ruption both among the patrons and their chents because munificent 
gifts for their support were recklessly spent. The luxury which 
prevailed among the rich, combined with the ignorance and bigotry 
of the masses, ever under the influence of a numerous train of priests 
and monks, constituted a serious barrier to the progress of evangeli- 
cal truth in Florence. Besides, the celebrated family of the Medici, 
after expending vast sums in adorning and exalting their native city, 
finished by overthrowing its liberties; and so true is the maxim **men 
will praise thee when thou dost well to thyself," that their ambition 
has found apologists among those who have extolled their early 
patriotism. In the course of a few years Florence had considered 
herself honored by the elevation of two of her sons to the chair of 
St. Peter under the respective titles of Leo X and Clement VII, and 
therefore was strongly attached to the Romish See. 

In view of all these obstacles it was to be expected that the 
Reformation would encounter the most powerful resistance in that 
city, yet we are assured that many of its citizens had accepted the 
Protestant doctrines before A. D. 1525. It is a significant fact that 
the Scriptures were translated about this time into Italian by no less 
than three natives of Florence — Brucioli, Marmochini, and Teofilo. 
Antonio Brucioli has been already mentioned in a preceding chapter 
of this work, but deserves more particular notice on account of the 
invaluable services which he rendered to Italy by his writings. He 
was born about the close of the fifteenth century, and in the early 
part of his life was a distinguished member of the Platonic Academy 
in his native city. Ardently attached to popular liberty, and full of 
youthful zeal, he was persuaded to embark in a conspiracy to expel 
the house of the Medici from Florence ; but the project having been 
discovered he was compelled to fly. After spending some time in 
Venice, he traveled in France and Germany. The five years of his 
exile infused a spirit of religious liberty into his soul and softened 
his political feelings. Applying himself to the study of Hebrew at 
Venice, he became very proficient, and afterwards obtained great dis- 
tinction for his knowledge of that language ; and while in Germany 
he had the best facilities for understanding the Scriptures. 

After the emperor, Charles V, had humbled Pope Clement VII, 
and the authority of the Medici was supended in Florence, Brucioli 
returned to his native city, A. D. 1527; but his recent intercourse 
with Lutherans had brought upon him the suspicion of heresy. He 
talked freely concerning the clergy, and thereby rendered himself 



THE WRITINGS OF BRUCIOLI. 259 

still more unpopular. His friends having warned him to be more 
careful in. his conversation, he replied, **If I speak truth I can not 
speak wrong." The Dominicans of St. Marco were particularly indig- 
nant at his censures, and one of them, Fojano, who was then a 
popular preacher in Florence, denounced him from the pulpit as a 
heretic, and, alluding to the meaning of his name, which, in Italian, 
signifies twigs, or shavings of wood, exclaimed, ''Brucioli is fit for 
nothing but to be burned." Soon after he was cast into prison, and, 
in addition to the charge of heresy, was accused of corresponding 
with France. An examination of his papers, however, revealed 
nothing suspicious or prejudicial to Italy, but only some specimens 
of a translation of a Bible, and a cipher which he had employed in 
writing to his friend Alamanno. The monks demanded the infliction 
of capital punishment, and Brucioli, by the boldness of his defense, 
irritated the judge before whom he was tried, and, no doubt, aggra- 
vated his case ; but, through the influence of friends his sentence was 
restricted to banishment for two years. 

It is probable that Brucioli never entertained thoughts of return- 
ing to Florence, but in dedicating one of his works to Cosmo de 
Medici he addressed him in a respectful manner and praised the 
mild character of his administration. Without soHciting any personal 
favors he exhorted him to encourage the reading of the Bible by his 
people as the best means of making devout men and dutiful subjects. 
For his own safety Brucioli prudently wrote his letters and dedica- 
tions without dating them from any place ; but it is generally believed 
that he retired to Venice again, and there spent the remainder of his 
life engaged in literary labors. At first he was compelled to endure 
the privations of an exile, but, refusing to become dependent on the 
bounty of a rich patron, he preferred to live in obscurity and to sup- 
port himself by the productions of his pen. For some years he was 
chiefly employed as a corrector of the press, which, at that time, was 
an important position. At length he and his brothers, or, as some 
say, his cousins, Francesco and Alessandro Brucioli, succeeded in 
establishing a printing-office of their own. From A. D. 1530 to 
A. D. 1556, the probable year of his death, he published many of 
his own works, including translations of the classics, but his Biblical 
labors were the most valuable. A specimen of his hymns, in con- 
nection with a list of his writings, was published by Schelhorn. 

In addition to his version of the Scriptures, already mentioned, 
Brucioli wrote a commentary on the whole Bible, extending to seven 
volumes in folio, a work of great value, and abounding in evangelical 

18 



26o ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

views. Father Simon admits that he translated from the original, 
and not, like the Roman Catholics, from the Vulgate, but says that 
he, having an imperfect knowledge of Hebrew, committed many 
errors by following Pagnini. This charge was not sustained by satis- 
factory proof, but was one of those indiscreet statements so frequently 
and hastily uttered by this ingenious critic. His remark that Bruci- 
oli's version often offends against the purity of the Italian tongue 
and abounds with Hebraisms, is more correct; but such a fault is 
inevitable in giving a literal translation. The Roman Catholics have 
endeavored to detract from the literary fame of the great author, 
because they disliked his religious opinions. Some of their writers 
were cautious in their commendations of his talents and erudition. 
**He was well acquainted," says one of them, "with Greek, Hebrew, 
and Latin, and endowed by nature with rare talents; but, trusting to 
his genius, he plunged into grievous errors, which are scattered over 
many of his writings; and he died without making any recantation." 
Another writer, Poccianti, gives a similar representation of his 
character. 

The Romish authorities not only placed his translations of the 
Bible into the first class of forbidden books, but also strictly prohib- 
ited all his works on whatever subject, whether "published or to 
be published," together with all the books which were issued from 
his press, even after his death. Schelhorn, a foreign writer, who 
examined Brucioli's commentary and was competent to pronounce 
a correct opinion, declares that it contains numerous and decisive 
proofs of the author's attachment to evangelical truth. "Though 
Italy be the fortress and strength of the papal empire," say the 
Lucchees refugees at Geneva, "because the authority of the pope 
is most firmly established over the people of that country, this 
could not prevent the light from penetrating it in different quarters; 
in consequence of which the scales fell from the eyes and the shackles 
from the hands of many who sat in darkness and captivity. This 
was effected by means of an Italian translation of the Bible by Bru- 
cioli, which was published at that time, and which it was not judged 
prudent to stifle in its birth by those violent measures which were 
afterwards employed for its suppression." If the influence of a man's 
writings is estimated in the bestowment of the title of "reformer," 
surely Brucioli deserves it. 

In no Italian city did the truths of the Reformation spread more 
rapidly or more extensively than in Bologna, which in the sixteenth 
century belonged to the kingdom of the pope. From it the various 



MOLLIO'S TRIAL AND ACQUITTAL. 26 1 

pontiffs issued some of the severest of their edicts against heresy; but 
this did not prevent the hght, which was shining around, from pene- 
trating that city. Its university was one of the earhest and greatest 
schools of Europe, and its members enjoyed extensive privileges. 
They were accustomed to hear the essential principles of liberty 
boldly proclaimed in public discussions in the halls of learning. The 
students, therefore, imbibed liberal sentiments, and the new opinions 
in religion were rapidly propagated in Bologna, while they had become 
unpopular in those states of Italy which had been deprived to a 
great extent of their former freedom. The principal instrument, 
under the blessing of God, of promoting the Gospel in that city, w^as 
John Mollio, a native of Montalcino, in the territory of Sienna. He 
had belonged to the order of Minorites from his youth, but he was 
more industrious than the most of his brethren, devoting himself to 
the study of polite literature and theology, and wasting no time in 
superstition or idleness. By a close examination of the Bible and 
the works of the reformers he obtained clear views of evangelical 
truth, and, having a reputation for culture and piety, possessed great 
influence, which, as a professor and preacher, he exerted in favor of 
reform. After acquiring considerable celebrity in the universities of 
Brescia, Milan, and Pavia, he came to Bologna about A. D. 1533. 
In his lectures he presented certain propositions relating to justifica- 
tion by faith, and other questions then in controversy, and was- 
opposed by CorneHo, a professor of metaphysics, who, being discom- 
fited in a public discussion with Mollio, accused him of heresy, and, 
caused him to be summoned to Rome. He defended himself with 
such eloquence and ability that the judges, appointed by Paul III to- 
try the cause, were compelled to acquit him, declaring that his doc- 
trines were true, but should not be publicly taught, because they 
might at that time create prejudice against the ''Apostolical See." 
The papal authorities sent him back to Bologna, and admonished him 
to abstain from explaining the Epistles of St. Paul. This prohibition, 
however, did not prevent him from preaching the same doctrine as 
formerly, which was received by his hearers with increasing inter- 
est. At length the pope commanded him to be removed from, the- 
university. 

The progress which the Reformation had made at Bologna is indi- 
cated by a letter, peculiar in its style and matter, which some of the 
inhabitants of that city addressed, A. D. 1533, to John Planitz, 
embassador from the elector of Saxony to Charles V, who was then 
in Italy. After having alluded to the report that he had been sent 



262 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

to entreat the emperor to induce the pope to convene a general 
council for the reformation of the abuses of the Church, they ex- 
pressed their thanks that Germany had ''thrown off the tyrannical 
yoke of Antichrist," and now demanded a council. In concluding 
their earnest letter they entreated the embassador to "obtain this 
most desirable and necessary assembly." 

The number of persons favorable to Protestantism in Bologna 
continued to increase many years after this period. Bucer, in a letter 
written A. D. 1541, congratulates them on their increasing numbers 
and knowledge; and Baldassare Altieri, A. D. 1545, informed an 
acquaintance in Germany that a nobleman in that city was ready to 
raise six thousand soldiers in favor of the evangelical party if it was 
found necessary to make war against the pope. The -court of Rome 
adopted a measure at this time which confirmed the letter of the 
Bolognese Protestants concerning the strong and almost universal 
desire for ecclesiastical reform in Italy. Paul III would not convene 
a general council, and yet he could not evade the importunities of 
those who demanded it, and therefore he appointed, A. D. 1537, 
four cardinals — Contarini, Caraffa, Sadolet, and Pole; and five prel- 
ates — Fregoso, Archbishop of Salerno ; Aleander, of Brindisi ; Gibert, 
of Verona; Cortese, Abbot of St. George of Venice; and Badia, 
master of the Sacred Palace, to meet at Bologna, and charged them, 
after due deliberation, to suggest to him the best method of reform- 
ing the abuses of the Church. This commission included some of 
the most respectable dignitaries of the Church, and the result of its 
meeting was some wholesome recommendations to the pope. They 
acknowledged that both the head and members of the ecclesiastical 
body V labored under a pestiferous malady, which if not cured, would 
prove fatal." Among the evils which demanded a speedy remedy, 
they named the admission of improper persons to the priesthood, the 
sale of benefices, the disposition of them by testaments, the granting 
of dispensations and exemptions, and the union of bishoprics, includ- 
ing ''the incompatible offices of cardinal and bishop." 

Addressing the pope they say: "Some of your predecessors in 
the pontifical chair, having itching ears, have heaped to themselves 
teachers according to their own lusts, who, instead of instructing 
them what to do, were expert in finding out reasons to justify what 
they wished to do, and encouraged them in their simoniacal practices 
by maintaining their right to dispose, at their pleasure, of all eccle- 
siastical property." The proposal of the court of Rome to reform 
these abuses was evidently not sincere. Paul III approved the 



THE TRUTH ENTERS NAPLES. 263 

* 'Advice" and ordered it to be printed; but, instead of obeying its 
injunctions, he openly violated them in various instances. Even the 
advisers themselves neglected to exemplify their own rules. The 
cardinals retained their bishoprics; Pole did not remove the purple 
Avhen he became primate of all England ; and Caraffa, when he after- 
wards ascended the papal throne under the title of Paul IV, placed 
the "Advice" which he had given to his predecessor in the list of 
prohibited books. This document, however, was not overlooked by 
the Protestants, a copy having been sent to Germany and published 
in Latin with a prefatory epistle by Sturmius, rector of the Academy 
of Strasburg. It was also issued in German by Luther, accompanied 
with satirical remarks from his pen, accusing the cardinals of content- 
ing themselves with removing the small twigs, while they allowed 
the trunk of corruption to remain unmolested, and, like the Pharisees 
of old, strained at gnats and swallowed camels. To present this 
forcibly to his readers he prefixed to the book an engraving repre- 
senting the pope, seated on a high throne, surrounded by his cardi- 
nals, who were all busy sweeping the room, each with a broom made 
of a long pole with a fox's tail fastened to the end. Pallavicini was 
displeased with this measure of the pope, who, by ordering a refor- 
mation of manners, acknowledged the existence of corruptions and 
countenanced the detracting speeches which heretics circulated among 
the vulgar. 

The doctrines of the glorious Reformation penetrated even the 
distant provinces of Naples and Sicily, or the southern part of Italy, 
and the adjacent island, which were then governed by separate vice- 
roys, under Charles V, the emperor of Spain. As to Calabria, or 
the southern extremity of the Italian peninsula, we have spoken 
already of a colony of Vaudois, or Waldenses from the valleys of 
Piedmont, as having existed two centuries in that department of the 
kingdom of Naples, and as being in existence at the commencement 
of the Reformation. In the city of Naples there were many who 
early embraced evangelical truth, which they probably first received 
from the German soldiers of Charles V, who, after the sack of Rome, 
compelled Lautrec, the French general, to raise the siege of Naples, 
and continued to garrison that city for some time. Determined to 
destroy the seeds which had been sown by these foreigners, Charles V 
issued a rigorous edict, A. D. 1536, commanding Don Pedro de 
Toledo, his viceroy at Naples, to punish all who were infected with 
heresy, or who were inclined to it. 

According to a contemporary Romis'.i historian, Caraccioli, the 



PETER MARTYR VERMIGLL. 265 

Germans were succeeded by an individual who ''caused a far greater 
slaughter of souls than all the thousands of heretical soldiery." This 
was Juan di Valdez, or, as he is sometimes called, Valdesso, a dis- 
tinguished Spaniard, who had been forced to leave the court of 
Charles V, and his native land, for the sake of the Gospel. He 
accompanied his sovereign into Germany, and, having been knighted, 
was sent to Naples, where he acted as secretary of the viceroy, Don 
Pedro de Toledo. His character was admirably adapted to promote 
the Protestant cause. In him were combined learning, refinement, 
gentleness, politeness, eloquence in conversation, and fervent piety, 
and he soon became a great favorite with the nobility, and all the 
intelligent men who at a certain season of the year resorted in large 
numbers to the Neapolitan metropolis. His villa stood on the west- 
ern arm of the Bay of Naples, near the tomb of Virgil, having a 
magnificent view of the calm sea and the picturesque island of Capri, 
with the opposite shore, on which Vesuvius, with its crown of flame, 
kept watch over the cities which fourteen hundred years before it 
had wrapped in a winding-sheet of ashes and buried in a tomb of 
lava. There the friends of Valdez often assembled to discuss the 
articles of the Protestant creed and confirm one another in their 
adherence to the Gospel. 

Among these were Peter Martyr Vermigli, as he is commonly called 
by English writers. His Italian name is Pietro Marthv Vermigli, and 
sometimes is designated Petnis Martyr Vennilitcs, to distinguish him 
from Petrus Martyr Mediolanensis, a martyr after whom he is named, 
in consequence of a vow of his parents ; and also to distinguish him 
from an enlightened countryman and contempoitary of his own, 
Petrus Martyr Angleriiis (of Anghiera), "whose epistles," says Dr. 
M'Crie, ''are known to the learned as throwing great light on the his- 
tory of the early part of the sixteenth century." Vermigli was 
born at Florence, A. D. 1500, of an honorable family, and received 
a liberal education. In his youth he was taught Latin by his mother; 
and when he arrived at the age of sixteen he entered, in opposition 
to the will of his parents, the canons regular of St. Augustine, and 
passed his novitiate in their convent at Fiezoli, which, by the liberal- 
ity of the Medici, contained an extensive library. He was then sent 
to the University of Padua, where he obtained a thorough knowledge 
of the Greek language and philosophy ; and afterwards visited the 
most celebrated academies of Italy. While at Vercelli he was per- 
suaded by Cusano, his intimate friend, to interpret Homer; and at 
Bologna he was instructed in Hebrew by a Jewish physician, named 



266 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Isaac. The Augustinians having appointed him one of their public 
preachers, he became noted for the soHdity and eloquence of his 
sermons in their churches at Rome, Bologna, Fermo, Pisa, Venice 
Mantua, Bergamo, and Montferrat, during Lent, and on other great 
occasions. The members of his order were favorably impressed with 
his talents and labors, and he was unanimously elected abbot of 
Spoleto. Soon after he was appointed provost of the College of St. 
Pietro ad arani, in the city of Naples, a position of dignity and 
emolument. This occurred about A. D. 1530, when he was in the 
thirtieth year of his age. 

It was not long after this, when he had bright prospects of sure 
and rapid promotion in the Romish Church, that his religious senti- 
ments were completely changed. From his youth, as he himself 
declares, he was deeply interested in sacred studies, and, having 
obtained a copy of the Bible in the convent to which he belonged, 
he read it with great care, and not without profit to himself and 
others. The treatises of Zwingle on ''True and False Religion " and 
on "Providence," and some of Bucer's commentaries on Scripture, 
subsequently came into his hands, and the perusal of them made a 
profound impression on his mind. This conviction of the truth was 
confirmed and deepened by the conversation of Valdez, Flaminio, 
and others, with whom he became acquainted at Naples. In the 
wilderness of Romanism Peter Martyr was parched with spiritual 
thirst, because he could not find the "water of life" to refresh his 
soul ; but Valdez led him to a fountain, whereat he drank, and 
thirsted no more. 

Another member of that Protestant band was Caserta, a Neapol- 
itan nobleman, who had a young relative, then w^holly absorbed in 
the gayeties and splendors of Naples. This was Galeazzo Caraccioli, 
Avhom Caserta introduced to Valdez. He was the only son of the 
marquis of Vico, and possessed some excellent traits of character. 
After his conversion to the truth he served Christ with his whole 
heart, and, when the tempest of persecution dispersed the brilliant 
company to which he belonged, he abandoned his noble palace, his 
rich patrimony, his affectionate wife, his dear children, and all his 
honors, clinging to the cross, and repairing to Geneva, where, in the 
words of Calvin, ' * he was content with our littleness, and lives fru- 
gally, according to the habits of the commonality — neither more nor 
less than any one of us." 

This select society received another member, A. D. 1536. Bernar- 
dino Ochino, or, as he is sometimes called, Ocello, came at that time 



BERNARDINO OCHINO. 267 

to Naples to preach the Lent sermons. He was born, A. D. 1487, 
at Sienna, in Tuscany, of poor and obscure parents. From his ear- 
nest years he was deeply moved by religious impressions^ and, 
according to the opinions of that age, devoted himself to a monastic 
life, entering the convent of Franciscan Observantines, the strictest 
of all the orders of the regular clergy. For a similar reason he went 
from them to the Capuchin brotherhood, A. D. 1534, recently 
established with the most rigid rules of holy living. In the work 
which he wrote after leaving Italy he acknowledges that during his 
monastic retirement he escaped many vices which he might not 
have avoided in his intercourse with a sinful world, and that even 
from the barren and unprofitable studies of the cloister he obtained 
some knowledge that was useful ; but he confesses his complete 
failure in possessing what he anticipated when he chose that un- 
natural and painful mode of life, Avith its voluntary humility and 
mortification. Ochino did not find peace of mind and assurance of 
salvation. 

"When I was a young man," he says, "I was under the domin- 
ion of the common error by which the minds of all who live under 
the yoke of the wicked Antichrist are enthralled ; so that I believed 
that we were to be saved by our own works — fastings, prayers, 
abstinence, watchings, and other things of the same kind, by which 
we \yere to make satisfaction for our sins, and purchase heaven 
through the concurring grace of God. Wherefore, being anxious to 
be saved, I deliberated with myself what manner of life I should 
follow ; and believing that those modes of religion were holy which 
were approved by the Roman Church, which I regarded as infallible, 
and judging that the life of the friars of St. Francis, called de obser- 
vantia, was above all others severe, austere, and rigid, and on that 
account more perfect and conformable to the life of Christ, I entered 
their society. Although I did not find what I expected, yet no 
better way presenting itself to my blinded judgment, I continued 
among them until the Capuchin friars made their appearance, when, 
being struck with the still greater austerity of their mode of living, 
I assumed their habit, in spite of the resistance made by my sensu- 
ality and carnal prudence. 

"Being now persuaded that I had found what I was seeking I 
said to Christ, * Lord, if I am not saved now, I know nothing more 
that I can do.' In the course of my meditations I was often per- 
plexed, and felt at a loss to reconcile the views on which I acted 
with what the Scriptures said about salvation being the gift of God 



268 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

through the redemption wrought by Christ ; but the authority of the 
Church silenced these scruples, and in proportion as concern for my 
soul became more intense I applied myself with greater diligence 
and ardor to those bodily exercises and mortifications which were 
prescribed by the doctrine of the Church and by the rules of the 
order to which I had submitted. Still, however, I remained a stran- 
ger to true peace of mind, which at last I found by searching the 
Scriptures and such helps for understanding them as I had access to. 
I now came to be satisfied of the three following truths : First, that 
Christ, by his obedience and death, has made a plenary satisfaction 
and merited heaven for the elect, which is the only righteousness 
and ground of salvation ; secondly, that religious vows of human 
invention are not only useless, but hurtful and wicked ; and, tJiiidly, 
that the Roman Church, though calculated to fascinate the senses 
by her external pomp and splendor, is unscriptural and abominable 
in the sight of God." 

In Italy it was customary for the secular clergy to perform gen- 
eral duties, but not to preach, as this devolved exclusively upon the 
monks and friars. Those who had the best pulpit talents were 
selected by the chapters of the different orders to visit the principal 
cities and preach during the time of Lent, which was almost the 
only season of the year in which the people enjoyed religious instruc- 
tion. Ochino attained the highest position as a pulpit orator. He 
possessed original talents, but was not an erudite scholar. The 
fervor of his piety and the sanctity of his life rendered his discourses 
very impressive. The hearts of his hearers were charmed by his 
extraordinary eloquence, which was accompanied with emotion and 
unction. His external appearance, too, after he had passed the mid- 
dle period of life, was exceedingly imposing. A snow-white head, and 
beard of the same color flowing down to his girdle, together with a 
pale countenance, made his aspect venerable and impressive. He 
never rode on horseback or in a carriage, but always traveled on foot, 
even when he was advanced in years. Princes and bishops wel- 
comed him to their palaces with all the honors due to one of superior 
rank, and when he departed bestowed upon him the same marks of 
distinction ; yet he, amid all the elegance and luxury that often sur- 
rounded him, retained the austerity and simplicity of the religious 
order to which he belonged. The intelligent and the ignorant, the 
nobility and the commonalty, equally followed him and admired his 
eloquence. "In such reputation was he held," says the annalist 
of the Capuchins, after Ochino had brought on them the stigma of 



OCHINO'S ELOQUENCE. 269 

heresy, "that he was esteemed incomparably the best preacher of 
Italy; his powers of elocution, accompanied with the most admirable 
action, giving him the complete command of his audience, and the 
more so that his life corresponded to his doctrine." Charles V, 
when in Italy, listened with delight to his sermons, and said, **That 
man would make the stones weep!" Sadolet and Bembo, who were 
better judges than the emperor, pronounced Ochino the greatest of 
living orators. 

By his discourses, he persuaded the inhabitants of Perugia to bury 
all their animosities and amicably settle their lawsuits ; and in Na- 
ples he preached to such a large audience, and with such popular 
eloquence, that he collected at one time for a charitable purpose the 
almost incredible sum of five thousand crowns. The most respect- 
able inhabitants of Venice, A. D. 1538, employed Cardinal Bembo 
to secure the services of the eloquent and devout Capuchin for the 
ensuing Lent. Bembo addressed a letter to Vittoria Colonna, 
marchioness of Pescaro, urging her to intercede with Ochino, over 
whom she had considerable influence, to visit Venice, whose inhab- 
itants, having heard of his fame, were intensely eager to listen to his 
sermons. He accepted the invitation, and, on his arrival at the sea- 
girt city, received a perfect ovation. The elegant pen of Bembo 
describes, in a letter to the marchioness, dated from Venice, the 23d 
of February, A. D. 1539, the nature and effects of Ochino's preach- 
ing : "I send your highness the extracts of our very reverend Frate 
Bernardino, to whom I have hstened during the small part of this 
Lent, which is over, with a pleasure which I can not sufficiently 
express. Assuredly, I never heard so edifying and holy a preacher, 
and do not wonder that your highness esteems him as you do. He 
discourses very differently from any other that has mounted the pulpit 
in my day, and in a more Christian manner ; bringing forth truths 
of superior excellence and usefulness, and enforcing them with the 
most affectionate ardor. He pleases every body above measure, and 
will carry the hearts of all with him when he leaves this place. From 
the whole city I send your highness immortal thanks for the favor 
you have done us, and I especially will ever feel obliged to you." 

In another letter to the same lady, dated the 15th of March, 
Bembo says : "I talk with your highness as I talked this morning 
with the reverend father, Frate Bernardino, to whom I have laid open 
my whole heart and soul, as I would have done to Jesus Christ, to 
whom I am persuaded he is acceptable and dear. Never have I 
had the pleasure to speak to a holier man than he. I should have 



270 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

been now at Padua, both on account of a business which has engaged 
me for a whole year, and also to shun the applications with which I 
am incessantly assailed in consequence of this blessed cardinalate ; but 
I was unwilling to deprive myself of the opportunity of hearing his 
most excellent, holy, and edifying sermons." On the 14th of April 
he writes: ''Our Frate Bernardino, whom I desire henceforth to call 
mine as well as yours, is at present adored in this city. There is not 
a man or woman who does not extol him to the skies. Oh, what 
pleasure ! Oh, what delight ! Oh, what joy has he given ! But I 
reserve his praises until I meet your highness, and, in the mean time, 
supplicate our Lord to order his life so as that it may endure longer 
to the honor and the profit of men, than it can endure according to 
the way in which he now treats himself." Cardinal Bembo also ad- 
dressed the following letter to the parson of the Church of the Apos- 
tles, expressing the deep interest which was felt in Venice for Ochino : 
"I pray you to entreat and oblige the reverend father, Frate Bernar- 
dino, to eat flesh, not for the gratification and benefit of his body, 
about which he is indifferent, but for the comfort of our souls, that he 
may be able to preach the Gospel to the praise of our blessed Savior, 
For he can not continue his present exercises, nor bear up under them 
during the present Lent, unless he leave off the diet of the season, 
which, as experience proves, always brings on him a catarrh." While 
Bembo extolled the character of Ochino for piety and eloquence, he 
did not suspect that he was a Protestant, though he uttered evan- 
gelical sentiments ; but the future conduct of the cardinal indicates 
that he would have felt and spoken very differently had he been 
informed that the doctrine to which he had listened with such delight 
was the same that Luther preached. Names exert a controlling 
influence, often exciting prejudice and causing men to reject the 
truth. How unreliable sometimes are the warmest feelings which the 
preaching of the Gospel may awaken, but which afterwards may be 
chilled by the atmosphere of bigotry. 

Ochino was unanimously chosen general or chief director of the 
Capuchins in a general chapter of the order, held at Florence, A. D. 
1538 ; and, in another chapter, which convened in the city of Naples, 
at Whitsunside, A. D. 1541, he, notwithstanding his earnest protest, 
was re-elected to the same office. The change in his religious senti- 
ments had occurred before he had obtained such extensive popularity 
as a preacher, or was the recipient of these honors. His hearers 
realized that his sermons were different in their letter and spirit from 
those he had once preached, but they could not assign the cause. 



OCHINO A PROTESTANT. 27 1 

In support of the doctrines which he advocated he appealed directly 
to the Bible, exhorting the people to rest their faith on the infallible 
authority of the Word of God, and to build their hopes of salvation 
on the obedience and death of Christ alone. His great prudence 
enabled him for years to preach the Gospel to the delight of its friends 
and without giving open offense to its enemies, by simply proclaim- 
ing the truth and not attacking corresponding errors. Believing that 
he should regard his own safety, and consulting the welfare of his 
hearers,, whose minds were not prepared to accept all the Protestant 
doctrines, he refrained from exposing the superstitions and corrup- 
tions of the Romish Church. When he came to preach at Naples, 
the penetrating eye of Valdez quickly detected the Protestant under 
the "patched rocket and sharp-horned cowl" of the Capuchin, and, 
having gained his confidence, he introduced him to the private meet- 
ings held by the converts to the Protestant faith in that city. 

The preaching of Ochino attracted large crowds to the church of 
St. Giovanni Maggiore ; and Jiis accession to the select society Avhich 
gathered around Valdez greatly increased its strength. He scattered 
the seeds of divine truth among the common people, and not only 
these, but persons of all ranks were delighted with his discourses. 
Among his audience might be seen Giulia de Gonzaga, widow of the 
duke of Frajetto, who was considered the most beautiful woman in 
Italy, and what was still higher praise, one of the most sincere and 
humble of its Christians. And there was Vittoria Colonna, mar- 
chioness of Pescaro, also renowned for the loveliness of her person 
as well as for her talents and virtues. And there was Pietro Carne- 
secchi, a patrician of Florence, and a former secretary of Clement VII, 
now a disciple of Christ, and afterwards to be a martyr to the Gospel. 
These were some of the illustrious men and noble women that con- 
stituted this Protestant propaganda in Naples. It seemed that in 
such a galaxy of rank, oratory, talent, genius, and tact there were 
elements of power, which promised brilliant results in the future, 
even the triumph, in due time, of the Reformation in Italy. 

The ravages which the Gothic nations had inflicted, and the still 
more devastating ravages of the papacy, were about to be repaired, 
and the physical beauty which Italy had possessed in her first days, 
and a moral beauty greater than she had ever known, were about to 
be restored to her. The flower of an ancient nation was assembling 
on its own soil to engage in the noble work of developing, for the 
second time, those mighty energies which had long slumbered, but 
were not dead, in the bosom of a race that had given arts and letters 



2/2 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

and civilization to the West. This phalanx of devoted Protestant 
champions, gathered on the shore of Naples, had every necessary gift 
for the glorious enterprise. Though small in numbers, this little 
host was great in names, including men of ancient lineage, of great 
wealth, of noble birth, of accomplished scholarship, of popular elo- 
quence, and of poetical genius. With pride they could appeal to a 
brilliant past, the traditions of which had not yet perished, and the 
recollection of which might strengthen them in the effort to release 
themselves from the yoke of the present. Viewed from a human 
stand-point, the evangelical movement at Naples had all the elements 
of success; but history has often repeated the lesson, that it is the 
truth of principles and not the grandeur of names that gives assur- 
ance of victory. The young vine planted beneath the towers of the 
ancient Parthenope, and which was shooting forth so hopefully in the 
golden air of that classic region, was destined to wither and die. 

By the blessing of God on the labors of Martyr and Ochino a 
reformed Church was established in Naples, including persons of the 
first rank in the kingdom, both male and female. Martyr excelled 
as much in judgment and learning as Ochino did in popular elo- 
quence; and, in their efforts to disseminate evangelical truth, they 
were aided by Mollio, formerly mentioned, who, at that time, was 
lecturer to the monastery of St. Lorenzo, in Naples. While Ochino 
employed his persuasive powers in the pulpit. Martyr and Mollio 
read lectures, chiefly on Paul's epistles, which were attended by the 
monks of different convents, by individuals of the episcopal order, 
and by many of the nobility. The advocates of the established relig- 
ion, supported by the authority of the viceroy, opposed the reform 
which these three devoted men were inaugurating; but the latter, by 
their prudence, and the encouragement extended to them by promi- 
nent citizens, maintained their position, and for a time triumphed 
over their adversaries. Justification by faith in Christ was a favorite 
doctrine of Ochino, and his printed sermons indicate that he per- 
fectly understood it, because his explanations of it are characterized 
by great Scriptural simplicity. Purgatory, penances, and papal par- 
dons fell before the preaching of this doctrine, as Dagon before the 
ark of God. 

Ochino and his colleagues were challenged to a discussion of these 
points by an Augustinian monk of Trevigio, who desired to recom- 
mend himself to his superiors ; but, possessing only ordinary talent 
and a limited knowledge of the Bible, he was discomfited and silenced 
by the champions of the evangelical cause. The Romish Church has 



OPPOSITION TO OCHINO— BONIFACIO— CARACCIOLL 273 

always regarded the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth verses of the 
third chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians as the strongest 
passage in the Bible in support of the lucrative doctrine of purgatory. 
Martyr did not directly attack the doctrine ; but, taking the words of 
Paul, from which Romanists have been accustomed to draw their 
most popular arguments in its favor, he gave a different interpreta- 
tion of them, and confirmed it by reference to the text and context, 
and also by extracts from the writings of the most judicious and 
learned among the Fathers. This view of that favorite passage caused 
considerable speculation, and, as the monks thought, destroyed one 
of the main pillars of purgatory. Alarmed at the popularity of this 
heresy among the people, and dreading the closing up of the most 
profitable channel of their income, they exerted themselves to the 
utmost to silence the daring innovator. By their own representa- 
tions, and through the influence of the viceroy, they succeeded in 
obtaining an order which interdicted him from lecturing and preach- 
ing. Gonzago, Cardinal of Mantua, and protector of his order, 
favored Martyr, who was also intimately acquainted with Cardinals 
Contarini, Pole, Bembo, and Fregoso, all men of learning, and some 
of them the friends of ecclesiastical reform. Depending upon their 
influence, he appealed his cause to Rome, and obtained a removal of 
the interdict. In addition to the eminent individuals already men- 
tioned as having embraced the Protestant faith in Naples, there were 
two who merit special consideration. One of them, Bernardino Boni- 
facio, marquis of Oria, was a nobleman equally celebrated for his 
learning and his piety, who, after traveling through various countries, 
settled at last in Nuremberg. The other was Antonio Caraccioli, a 
son of the prince of Melphi, and who was usually known by his 
father's title. This Neapolitan nobleman secretly accepted the truths 
of the Reformation, but did not openly profess them until after his 
departure from Italy. Having gone to France, he was appointed 
abbot of St. Victor, in Paris, and afterwards bishop of Troyes, in 
Champagne. He had thoroughly read the writings of the reformers, 
especially those of Calvin, and when he became a bishop, A. D. 
155 1, he boldly and eloquently denounced the abuses of the Romish 
Church. His sermons attracted multitudes, who, through curiosity, 
flocked to hear a bishop preach, or perhaps by love to the truth. 
The papal authorities soon summoned him to answer for his conduct, 
and, yielding to the strong pressure against him, he made a public 
recantation in his own cathedral, thereby dishonoring himself and dis- 
appointing the hopes of many. 



2/4 II^^L V 577? UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

On his return from a visit to Italy, A. D. 1557, he had an inter- 
view with Calvin and Beza, at Geneva, which rekindled his zeal for 
the reformed faith. He was at the conference between the Cathohcs 
and Protestants at Poissy, A. D. 1560, ^and after its adjournment 
returned to Troyes in company with his countryman, Peter Martyr, 
to whom he expressed his determination, at all hazards, to proclaim 
and abide by the truth, of which he was now completely convinced 
in his conscience. He demonstrated his sincerity by meeting with 
the Protestants in Troyes, professing his faith, and even stating his 
doubts as to the validity of his episcopal orders. Having declared 
his willingness to serve them, they gave him a call to the pastoral 
office, and then unanimously selected him to be their minister. 
He was pronounced a heretic by the papal clergy, and degraded 
from the position he had occupied. At a subsequent period the 
reformed bishop offended his new friends by deserting his Church 
and attaching himself to the court ; but he did not cease to preach, 
and persevered in the Protestant religion until the close of his life. 

The death of Valdez occurred A. D. 1540, and while the Church 
at Naples was enjoying peace, and daily increasing in numbers, it 
was afflicted by the loss of this great man, to whom it chiefly owed 
its existence. He was also deeply lamented by many distinguished 
individuals, who called him their spiritual father. "I wish we were 
again at Naples," says Bonfadio, in a letter to Carnesecchi. But 
when I consider the matter in another point of view, to what pur- 
pose should we go there now, when Valdez is dead? His death is 
truly a great loss to us, and to the world ; for Valdez was one of the 
rarest men in Europe, as the writings left by him on the epistles of 
St. Paul and the psalms of David abundantly demonstrate. He was 
beyond all doubt a most accomplished man in all his words, actions, 
and counsels. Life scarcely supported his infirm and spare bod}^ ; 
but his nobler part and pure intellect, as if it had been placed with- 
out the body, was wholly occupied with the contemplation of truth 
and divine things. I condole with Marco Antonio [Flaminio], for, 
above all others, he greatly loved and admired him." His deep piety 
and purity of life are universally admitted. After his death, the 
report that he had entertained heterodox sentiments was extensively 
circulated ; but it rested principally on the circumstance that some of 
his intimate friends ultimately inclined to the Socinians. The tenets 
of this sect are not found in his writings, though they contained some 
other opinions which are either untenable or unguardedly expressed. 
Beza declares that while he could not indorse some things in the 



THE GOSPEL IN SICIL Y—REFORMA TION IN LUCCA. 275 

''Divine Considerations" of Valdez, he discovered nothing contrary 
to the regular orthodox standard. 

Not only were the doctrines of the Gospel received in the capital, 
but they spread also in all parts of the kingdom of Naples, and even 
reached Sicily, which was, at that period, an appendage to the crown 
of Spain. The viceroys, who governed that island under Charles V, 
being engaged in defending their coasts against the Turks, had not 
time to study the intrigpes of Italian policy ; but, on the other hand, 
exhibited a mild and tolerant spirit, which encouraged those who 
fled from persecution on the Continent to seek protection from them. 
Benedetti, surnamed Locarno, from the place of his birth, a minister 
of great sanctity, having obtained the favor of the viceroy, preached 
the Gospel under his patronage to crowded audiences in Palermo, 
and other parts of that island, widely scattering the seeds of divine 
truth. An abundant harvest was soon produced, giving to the in- 
quisitors ample employment in extirpating heresy. For many years 
persons accused of being Lutherans were sacrificed in the public 
and private autos-da-fe celebrated in Sicily. 

Lucca, the capital of a small but flourishing republic on the east 
coast of the Gulf of Genoa, enjoyed the honor of having among its 
inhabitants a greater number of converts to the Protestant faith than 
perhaps any other city in Italy. This was chiefly the result of Peter 
Martyr's labors in that place. After a trial of several years he dis- 
covered that the climate of Naples was injurious to his health, and, 
leaving there with the consent of his superiors, he was appointed 
visitor-general of the Augustinians in Italy. His earnest efforts to 
introduce reform into the monasteries, encouraged by Cardinal Gon- 
zaga, and his rigid inspection of the internal condition of the order,, 
alarmed the monks, who determined to get rid of their troublesome- 
visitor. This was accomplished by having him appointed prior of St. 
Fridiano, at Lucca, an honorable position which invested him with, 
episcopal powers. There was an ancient feud between the inhabit- 
ants of Lucca and Florence, and the enemies of Martyr hoped that 
he, as a Florentine, would be unpopular in his new situation ; but he 
conducted himself so prudently that he was as much -esteemed as if 
he had been a native of Lucca. He devoted himself particularly to 
the education of the novices in the priory, whose minds he desired 
to imbue with the love of sacred literature. Having established a. 
private college, or seminary, he employed teachers who were both, 
learned men and lovers of divine truth. Paolo Lacisio, a native of 
Verona, taught the Latin language ; Celso Martinengho, of the noble 

19 



276 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

family of the counts of that name, taught Greek ; and Emanuel Trem- 
ellio, of Ferrara, who afterwards became celebrated as an Oriental 
scholar, gave instructions in Hebrew. Martyr himself applied the 
literary knowledge which the young men obtained from these sources 
to the exposition of the Bible, by reading lectures to them on the 
New Testament and the Psalter, which were attended by all the edu- 
cated men, and many of the patricians of Lucca. He also preached 
publicly to the people, confining himself to the Gospels during Ad- 
vent and Lent, according to the usual custom of the monks ; but 
selecting his subjects from the Epistles during the rest of the year. 

As the result of these labors a Church was organized in that city, 
of which Martyr became pastor, and many, including individuals of 
prominence, embraced the reformed faith, and, by the most positive 
proofs, manifested genuine piety and ardent devotion to the truth. At 
that time Pope Paul HI visited Lucca, accompanied by the emperor, 
Charles V, who was then in Italy. The friends of Martyr feared that 
his enemies, taking advantage of the opportunity, would make accu- 
sations against him, and that his life would be endangered; but he 
was not molested, probably because they considered it impolitic to 
attack a teacher of his reputation and authority. His popularity with 
the inhabitants was so great that any attempt to persecute him would 
have been premature and ineffectual. About the same time he was 
visited by Cardinal Contarni, who passed through Lucca on his return 
from Germany, where he had been in the character of a papal legate. 
They conversed confidentially on the state of the Church and on the 
sentiments of the German reformers. Besides Peter Martyr, the 
evangelical cause at Lucca was favored with the presence and counsel 
of Celio Secundo Curio, who taught in the university, having been 
recommended to the senators by the duchess of Ferrara. 

There were many converts to the Gospel at Sienna, through 
Ochino, who, as we have already stated, was a native of that city, 
which he often visited in his preaching tours. But the inhabitants 
were mainly indebted to Aonio Paleario, a native of Veroli, in Cam- 
pagni di Roma, for the knowledge of evangelical truth. He was first 
a tutor in the house of Belanti, and about A. D. 1534 was nominated 
pubHc teacher of Greek and Latin by the senate of Sienna, where he 
afterwards read lectures on ''Philosophy" and ''Belles-lettres." His 
study of the Bible and the writings of the German reformers imparted 
a liberal tone to his lectures on "Moral Philosophy," which were 
different from those of his colleagues. While the students were de- 
lighted with his advanced ideas, the advocates of the old school of 



THE FEARLESS REFORMER. 277 

thought were offended. Cardinal Sadolet, in the name of his friends, 
warned him of the danger of yielding to novelties, and advised him, 
in view of the times, to confine himself to the ''safer task of clothing 
the peripatetic ideas in elegant language." The liberal mind of 
Paleario, strong in its devotion to the truth, did not relish this pru- 
dential advice. Regarding it his duty freely and even severely to 
censure vain pretenders to scholarship and piety, he did not hesitate 
to perform it. This irritated that class of men ^Vho scruple at no 
means to oppress and destroy an adversary, and, accordingly, they 
adopted the popular method of those days, and accused him of heresy. 
They watched his private conduct and circulated to his prejudice 
expressions uttered unsuspectingly in private conversation. He com- 
mitted an offense by laughing at a rich priest, who was seen every 
morning kneeling at the shrine of a saint, but who refused to pay his 
debts. *'Cotta asserts," says Paleario in one of his letters, "that if 
I am allowed to live there will not be a vestige of religion left in the 
city. Why? Because, being asked one day what was the first 
ground on which men should rest their salvation, I replied, Christ; 
being asked what was the second, I replied, Christ; and being asked 
what was the third, I still replied, Christ." 

But Paleario's gravest offense in the estimation of his enemies 
was the publication of his book on the ' ' Benefit of the Death of 
Christ," concerning which he made the following statement in the 
defense of himself before the senate of Sienna: "There are some 
persons so sour, so morose, so censorious, as to be displeased when 
we give the highest praise to the author and God of our salvation, 
Christ, the king of all nations and people. When I wrote a treatise 
this very year in the Tuscan language, to show what great benefits 
accrue to mankind from his death, this was made the ground of a 
criminal accusation against me. Is it possible to utter or conceive 
any thing more shameful? I had said that since he, in whom the 
divinity resided, has poured out his life's blood so lovingly for our 
salvation, we ought not to doubt of the good will of heaven, but 
might promise ourselves the greatest tranquillity and peace. I had 
affirmed, agreeably, to the most unquestionable monuments of anti- 
quity, that those who turn with their souls to Christ crucified commit 
themselves to him by faith, acquiesce in the promises, and cleave 
with assured confidence to him, are delivered from all evil and enjoy 
a plenary pardon of their sins. These things appeared so grievous, 
so detestable, so execrable to the twelve — I can not call them men, 
but — inhuman beasts, that they judged the author worthy of being 



2/8 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

committed to the flames. If I must undergo this punishment for the 
foresaid testimony (for I deem it a testimony rather than a hbel), 
then, senators, nothing more happy can befall me. In such a time 
as this I do not think a Christian ought to die in his bed. I am not 
only willing to be accused, to be dragged to prison, to be scourged, 
to be hung up by the neck, to be sewed up in a sack, to be exposed 
to wild beasts, let me be roasted before a fire, provided only the 
truth be brought to light by such a death." 

Addressing his accuser, Paleario says: '*You accuse me of being 
of the same sentiments with the Germans. Good God, what an illib- 
eral charge! Do you mean to bind up all the Germans in one bundle? 
Are they all bad? Though you should restrict your charge to their 
divines, still it is ridiculous. Are there not many excellent divines 
in Germany? But your accusation, though full of trifling, has never- 
theless a sting which, as proceeding from you, is charged with poison. 
By Germans you mean Ecolampade, Erasmus, Melanchthon, Luther, 
Pomeran, Bucer, and others, who have incurred suspicion. But surely 
there is not a divine among us so stupid as not to perceive and con- 
fess that the writings of these men contain many things worthy of 
the highest praise, many things gravely, accurately, and faithfully 
stated, repeated from the early Fathers, who have left us the institutes, 
and also from the later commentaries of the Greeks and Latins who, 
though not to be compared with those pillars, are still of use for 
interpretation. ' But do not you approve of all that the Germans 
have done?' This, Otho, is like the rest of your questions; yet I 
will answer it. I approve of some things; of others I disapprove. 
To pass by many things, I praise the Germans and consider them as 
entitled to public thanks for their exertions in restoring the purity of 
the Latin language, which, till of late, was oppressed by barbarism 
and poverty of speech. Formerly sacred studies lay neglected in the 
cells of idlers, who retired from the world to enjoy their repose (and 
yet, amidst their snoring, they contrived to hear what we said in 
cities and villages) ; now these studies are, in a great measure, revived 
in "Germany. Chaldaic, Greek, and Latin libraries are erected ; books 
are beautifully printed, and honorable stipends are assigned to divines. 
What can be more illustrious than these things? What more glori- 
ous ? What more deserving of perpetual praise ? Afterwards arose 
civil discords, intestine wars, commotions, seditions, and other evils, 
which, for the sake of charity and brotherly love among Christians, I 
deplore. Who does not praise the former? Who is not displeased 
with the latter?" 



PALEARIO IN MILAN. 279 

In this eloquent defense of Paleario, boldness and candor were 
tempered by prudence and address, and he achieved a victory over 
the violence and intrigues of his enemies. He was, however, com- 
pelled soon after to leave Sienna; but this change in the place of his 
residence did not relieve him from the odium which he had incurred. 
From Lucca he went to Milan at the request of the authorities of 
that city, and spent seven years there as professor of eloquence, 
handsomely supported and greatly honored. It appears from his 
published letters that he enjoyed the friendship and correspondence 
of the most distinguished men of his time, both in the religious 
and literary world. Among the former were Cardinals Sadolet, 
Bembo, Pole, Maffei, Badia, Filonardi, Sfondrati, and among the 
latter Flaminio, Riccio, Alciati, Vittorio, Lampridio, and Buonamici. 
He was, indeed, a profound scholar. His poem on the immortality 
of the soul elicited the highest praise from the learned, and his admi- 
rable works, ** Letter on the Council of Trent," addressed to the 
reformers, and ''Testimony and Plea against the Roman Pontiffs," 
evince a thorough knowledge of the Bible and great soundness of 
judgment. But no production of his exerted as wide an influence as 
the book which was published, A. D. 1543, in Italian, under the 
title, // Beneficio di Christo, and was afterwards translated into Span- 
ish and French. Vergerio says of it: ''Many are of opinion that 
there is scarcely a book of this age, or at least in the Italian lan- 
guage, so sweet, so pious, so simple, so well fitted to instruct the 
ignorant and weak, especially in the doctrine of justification. I will 
say more: Reginald Pole, the British cardinal, and the intimate friend 
of Morone, was esteemed the author of that book, or partly so ; at 
least it is known that he, with Flaminio, Priuli, and his other friends, 
defended and circulated it." 

This treatise was eminently useful in diffusing evangelical doctrine 
in Italy upon a subject of vital importance. Forty thousand copies 
were sold in six years. Cardinal Morone was imprisoned and Car- 
nesecchi consigned to the flames for their active efforts in circulating- 
it. There is evidence to show that it was translated into English 
and read in Scotland. This and other works of Paleario, no doubt, 
largely contributed to the spread of the reformed opinions in Sienna, 
and some idea of the progress of the Gospel there may be formed 
from the number of individuals who subsequently submitted to a vol- 
untary exile for the sake of the truth, among whom were Lanctantio 
Ragnoni, Mino Celso, and the Socini, who obtained celebrity by giv- 
ing their name to a new sect. 



280 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



Chapter XVII. 

THE INQUISITION AT VENICE, MODENA, AND FERRARA. 

THE rapid progress of the Reformation in Italy seriously alarmed 
the court of Rome. The pope and his counselors had been 
engrossed by foreign politics, and believed that whatever heresy pre- 
vailed in their midst could at any time be easily suppressed. Many 
statements of the growth of this evil had been made to them ; but 
the papal authorities either regarded them as exaggerated, or con- 
tented themselves with issuing prohibitory bulls and addressing letters 
of warning to the bishops of suspected places. But during A. D. 
1542 the clergy, and particularly the friars, from all parts of the coun- 
try complained that the Roman Catholic faith was exposed to great 
danger from the boldness of the reformers, the increase of conventi- 
cles, and the lukewarmness of local magistrates in enforcing the 
mandates of bishops. It was not only the voice of the inferior priests 
and monks that called for vengeance upon those who held and prop- 
agated Protestant opinions, but some occupying high positions 
breathed out " threatenings and slaughter," and attained infamous 
notoriety in the bloody field of persecution. Among these was 
Pietro Caraffa, a prelate, who made great pretensions to sanctity, 
but became more celebrated by his ambition and violence when he 
afterwards ascended the pontifical throne under the name of Paul IV. 
He was commonly called the " Theatine Cardinal," because he 
founded a religious order to which the title T/ieatme was given, 
Caraffa being at that time bishop of Civita di Chieti, a city in Naples. 
In his youth he was a patron of learning ; and Erasmus, in dedicat- 
ing his edition of the works of Jerome to him, extolled him in a 
manner wholly unworthy his polished pen — a service which Caraffa 
requited when he became Pope Paul IV by placing this very edition 
of Jerome and the other works of Erasmus in the ' ' Index of For- 
bidden Books." The record in that work is as follows: *'Desiderius 
Erasmus of Rotterdam, with all his commentaries, annotations, 
scholia, dialogues, epistles, critiques, translations, books, and manu- 
scripts ; even if they contain nothing at all against religion, or con- 
cerning rehgion." He laid before the Sacred College the discoveries 
he had made respecting the extent to which heresy prevailed in Na- 



OCHINO IN VENICE. 28 1 

pies and various parts of Italy, and convinced them of the necessity 
of adopting the speediest and most vigorous measures for its exter- 
mination. 

The Inquisition resolved to proceed, in the first place, against 
such of the ecclesiastics as were known to favor the Reformation. 
Among these Ochino and Martyr were the most distinguished ; but 
as they were very popular, and had not yet renounced the Roman 
Catholic faith, spies were employed to watch their movements and 
report their words, while their past conduct was secretly investigated 
for the purpose of obtaining direct evidence of their heretical opin- 
ions. Ochino had many enemies among the friars of the Capuchin 
order, to which he belonged, because he, as their superior, had 
introduced reforms into monastic establishments. His sermons had 
made such an impression on the minds of the citizens of Venice that 
they united in an application to the pope to grant them an opportu- 
nity of hearing him a second time. Accordingly, the cardinal of 
Carpi, who was protector of the order of Capuchins, was directed by 
the pope to send him to Venice during Lent, A. D. 1542, with 
instructions to observe his conduct. The whole city rushed to hear 
their favorite preacher, who did not appear to use greater freedom 
on that occasion than he had on the former ; but he was soon accused 
of having advanced doctrines not in harmony with the teachings of 
the Roman Catholic Church, particularly on the subject of justifica- 
tion. When summoned before the papal nuncio, however, he de- 
fended himself with such ability that his accusers could not find a 
plausible pretext for proceeding against him. Perceiving that he was 
closely watched by spies, he was more careful in his pulpit expres- 
sions ; but having heard that Julio Terentiano, a convert of Valdez, 
with whom he had been intimate at Naples, was thrown into prison, 
he could no longer remain silent. In a sermon preached to the sen- 
ators and prominent men of the city he introduced that subject, and 
exclaimed : ' ' What remains for us to do, my lords ? And to what 
purpose do we fatigue and exhaust ourselves, if those men, O noble 
Venice, queen of the Adriatic, — if those men who preach to you 
the truth are to be thrown into prison, thrust into cells, and loaded 
with chains and fetters? What place will be left to us? what field 
will remain open to the truth? Oh, that we had but liberty to 
preach the truth ! How many blind, who now grope their way in 
the dark, would be restored to light!" 

When the papal nuncio heard that Ochino had made this bold 
appeal he immediately interdicted him from preaching, and reported 



282 ITAL Y STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

the circumstance to the pope. But the Venetians, by their impor- 
tunity, succeeded in having the interdict removed within three days, 
and the fearless orator again appeared in the pulpit. 

At the close of Lent he went to Verona, and called together 
those of his order who were engaged in studies preparatory to the 
work of the ministry. Desiring to increase their Biblical knowledge, 
he inaugurated a course of lectures on the ''Epistles of Paul," but 
was soon summoned to appear at Rome, to answer certain charges 
based upon his lectures, and made by the nuncio at Venice. Ochino 
started for Rome, but spent a short time at Bologna, where he had 
an interview with Cardinal Contarini, who was then on his death-bed, 
and is said to have expressed himself as agreeing with the Protest- 
ants on the article of justification, though he was opposed to them 
on the other points of controversy. This fact has been denied by 
Cardinal Quirini, Boverio, and Baccatello, but has not been dis- 
proved. In the month of August Ochino went to Florence ; and 
receiving the information that the papal court had resolved to take 
his life he hastened to Ferrara, and being assisted in his flight by 
the Duchess Renee, escaped from Italy and reached Geneva in 
safety. Armed men had been sent to arrest him-; but, fortunately, 
he had eluded them. In his answer to Muzio, which is reprinted at 
the end of the second volume of **Prediche," he has himself given 
an account of his departure from Italy, and the reasons of it. His 
countrymen, in proportion as they admired him, were amazed at his 
defection and flight. Claudio Tolomeo, regarded as the best episto- 
lary writer of his age, says, in a letter which he addressed to him, 
that the news of his renunciation of the Roman Catholic faith and 
his acceptance of the Lutheran heresy had completely stunned him, 
and seemed utterly incredible and untrue. 

Caraffa, the ''Theatine Cardinal" and friend of Ochino, poured 
forth his lamentations in the most tragical manner. The following 
quotation is a specimen of that mystical devotion which at this 
period was combined with a spirit of bigotry and ambition in a cer- 
tain class of papal teachers: ''What has befallen thee, Bernardino? 
What evil spirit has seized thee, like the reprobate king of Israel of 
old ? My father, my father ! the chariot and the charioteer of Israel ! 
whom a little while ago we with admiration beheld ascending to 
heaven in the spirit and power of Elias, must we now bewail thy 
descent to hell with the chariots and horsemen of Pharaoh ? All Italy 
flocked to thee; they hung upon thy breast. Thou hast betrayed 
the land ; thou hast slain the inhabitants. O doting old man, who 



MARTYR AND THE MONKS. 283 

has bewitched thee to feign to thyself another Christ than thou wert 
taught by the Cathohc Church? Ah, Bernardino, how great wert 
thou in the eyes of all men ! Oh, how beautiful and fair ! Thy 
coarse but sacred cap excelled the cardinal's hat and the pope's 
miter ; thy nakedness, the most gorgeous apparel ; thy bed of wat- 
tles, the softest and most delicious couch ; thy deep poverty, the 
riches of the world. Thou wert the herald of the highest, the 
trumpet sounding far and wide ; thou wert full of wisdom, and 
adorned with knowledge. The Lord placed thee in the garden of 
Eden, in his holy mount, as a light above the candlestick, as the sun 
of the people, as a pillar in his temple, as a watchman in his vine- 
yard, as a shepherd to feed his flock. Still thy eloquent discourses 
sound in our ears ; still we see thy unshod feet. Where now are all 
thy magnificent words concerning contempt of the world ? Where 
thy invectives against covetousness ? Thou that didst teach that a 
man should not steal, dost thou steal?" 

Caraffa proceeded in this inflated state, which Cardinal Quirini calls 
''elegant and vehement," until he had exhausted all the metaphors 
in the ** flowers of the saints." Ochino was not indifferent to the 
attacks made upon him by such writers as Girolamo Muzio and Am- 
brogio Catarino, who were hired to refute and defame him, but 
addressed an apologetical letter to the magistrates of his native city 
of Sienna and another to Tolomeo. Besides these, he published a 
large collection of his sermons and various polemical treatises against 
the Church of Rome, which being written in the Italian language, 
and in a popular style, produced a great effect upon his countrymen. 
After his flight, some of his most intimate friends were arrested, and 
a strict investigation into the sentiments of his religious order insti- 
tuted. Some of the members escaped, and others saved their lives 
by recanting their opinions. The apostasy of Ochino, and the num- 
ber of Capuchins who were infected with heresy, so incensed the 
pope, that he proposed at one time to suppress the whole order. 

In the mean time Martyr, finding himself in danger, prepared to 
escape also to Switzerland. The monks of the Augustinian order, to 
which he belonged, had acted as spies to scrutinize his conduct, and, 
because he, as visitor-general, had endeavored to introduce a refor- 
mation of manners among them, they became his bitter enemies, and 
were the most prominent in accusing him. For a whole year they 
secretly opposed and openly slandered him, and would have crushed 
him if he had not received protection from the Lucchese. For 
the purpose of ascertaining the feelings of the citizens, his enemies 



284 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

obtained an order from Rome to arrest Terentiano, one of his friends, 
who was confessor to the Augustinian convent, but rested under the 
suspicion of heresy. Some noblemen, admiring the confessor's piety, 
and beHeving that he was innocent, forced the doors of his prison 
and hberated him ; but, having fallen and broken a limb in his flight, 
he was again taken and carried to Rome in triumph. This successful 
movement encouraged them to make a formal charge against Martyr 
before the papal court. Messengers were sent to the different con- 
vents, exhorting the monks not to neglect the opportunity of recov- 
ering "their ancient liberty" by punishing their adversary. A gen- 
eral congregation of the order was convened at Genoa, and he was 
immediately summoned to attend. Convinced of the fact that great 
prejudice existed against him and, warned by his friends that snares 
were laid for his life, he determined, after careful deliberation, to 
avoid the impending danger by placing himself beyond the rage and 
craft of his enemies. Giving up a part of his library to the convent, 
over which he had presided, and committing the rest to Cristoforo 
Trenata, a nobleman of Lucca, and his intimate friend, he requested 
it to be sent after him to Germany. He also arranged the affairs of 
the institution, and, leaving it in charge of his vicar, secretly retired 
from the city accompanied by Paolo Lacisio, Theodosio Trebellio, 
and Julio Terentiano, who had been released from prison. 

After his arrival at Pisa, Martyr wrote letters to Cardinal Pole 
and to the brethren of the monastery at Lucca, which he gave to 
reliable persons, and instructed them not to deliver until a month 
after his departure. In these he described the errors and abuses 
of the papal religion generally, and particularly of the monastic life, 
which he could not any longer conscientiously encourage. As addi- 
tional reasons for abandoning it, he referred to the odium which he 
had incurred, and the plots formed against his life. Fearing that he 
might be accused of appropriating even the smallest part of the con- 
vent property to his private use, he sent back the ring which he had 
been accustomed to wear as the badge of his office. At Florence he 
met Ochino, and, after arranging their respective routes, he, along 
with his three companions, traveled rapidly and cautiously by way 
of Bologna, Ferrara, and Verona, and safely reached Zurich. In a 
short time they were invited by Bucer to visit Strasburg, where they 
obtained situations as professors in the academy. From that city 
Martyr wrote to the Reformed Church of Lucca, of which he had 
been pastor, giving his reasons for leaving his native land, and exhort- 
ing them to perseverance in the service of God. 



THE PROTESTANTS OF LUCCA. 



285 




After the discovery of Martyr's flight, the papal authorities 
ordered an examination of the monastery over which he had pre- 
sided, to ascertain the extent to which his heretical opinions had 
corrupted its inmates. Many of the monks were imprisoned, and, 
within less than a year, eighteen of them escaped to Switzerland. 
The Protestant Church in Lucca, which he had established, though 



286 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

discouraged by the loss of its founder, and threatened with persecu- 
tion by its adversaries, was not dispersed. It was protected by some 
of the prominent individuals of the state, continued to hold its 
private meetings, enjoyed the instruction of regular pastors, and 
increased both in knowledge and numbers. Martyr, in a letter writ- 
ten to them more than twelve years after his departure from Lucca, 
and subsequent to a disastrous change in their situation, says: "Such 
progress have you made for many years in the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
that it was unnecessary for me to excite you by my letters ; and all 
that remained for me to do was to make honorable mention of you 
every-where, and to give thanks to our heavenly Father for the spir- 
itual blessings with which he had crowned you. To this I had an 
additional motive from reflecting that my hand was honored to lay 
the foundations of this good work, in weakness I confess, but still, by 
the grace of Christ, to your no small profit. My joy was increased by 
learning that, after my labors among you were over, God provided 
you with other and abler teachers, by whose prudent care and salutary 
instructions the w^ork begun in you was advanced." 

One of the teachers to whom he refers was Celio Secundo Curio, 
who was employed in the university. After Martyr's departure he 
remained at Lucca more than a year, officiating as a religious teacher 
among the Protestants, and holding his position as a professor in the 
school. Notwithstanding the clamor of the priests the senate pro- 
tected him for some time, but the pope having written to the magis- 
trates of that city, demanding his arrest and appearance at Rome to 
answer the charges which had been brought against him by various 
parties, his friends, finding that they could no longer protect him, 
advised him to make his escape privately. Accordingly he retired 
to Ferrara, whence he went to Zurich and Berne with letters of 
recommendation from the Duchess Renee to the magistrates of 
those cities. Afterwards he went to Lausanne and resided there. 
During the same year, he returned for his wife and children, whom 
he had left in Italy, and while there made a narrow escape, which, 
though well authenticated, invests the narrative of his life with an air 
of romance. From the time he entered Italy Curio's route was dis- 
covered by the inquisitors, who were scattered over the country, 
and, deeming it unsafe to visit Lucca, he stopped at the neighboring 
town of Pessa, and waited for his family. His enemies had tracked 
him, and while he was sitting at dinner in the inn a captain of the 
papal band,, called in Italy bariselloy suddenly made his appearance, 
and entering the room commanded him, in the pope's name, to yield 



THE " HOL V office:' 287 

himself as a prisoner. Curio, abandoning all hope of escape, rose to 
deliver himself up, and unconsciously held in his hand the knife which 
he had used in carving his food. When the barisello beheld an ath- 
letic man approaching him with a large knife, he was seized with a 
sudden panic, and retreated to a corner of the room trembling like a 
convict. Curio, who had great presence of mind, walked deliberately 
out of the door, and, passing without interruption through the armed 
band, who were awaiting their leader, went instantly to his stable, 
mounted a horse, and made good his flight. 

A bull, dated the ist of April, A. D. 1543, was issued by Paul 
III, proclaiming the estabhshment, at Rome, of the "Congregation 
of the Holy Office." By this edict six cardinals were invested with 
the title and rights of inquisitors-general of the faith, with all the 
necessary authority on both sides of the Alps to try all cases of 
heresy, with the power of arresting and imprisoning suspected per- 
sons and their abettors, of whatever estate, rank, or order, of nomi- 
nating officers under them, and of appointing inferior affiliated tribu- 
nals of equal or inferior power, in all places. This court immediately 
commenced operations in the ecclesiastical states, and during the 
remainder of this century the popes made great efforts to extend its 
power over other parts of Italy. The strongest resistance to it was 
manifested in Venice, whose government insisted upon the condition 
that a certain number of magistrates and lawyers should be present 
at the examination of accused persons, and that a definitive sentence 
should not be pronounced, at least, in the case of the laity, without 
having been first submitted to the senate. 

In Tuscany, three commissioners, elected by the congregation at 
Rome, along with the local inquisitor, were designated as the judges 
of all causes of religion, and were required to inform the duke of their 
sentence, who was appointed to carry it into execution. The popes 
found less opposition in the other states and cities of Italy. These 
provisions, which the authorities of Venice, Tuscany, and other places 
had adopted, should have satisfied the "Holy Office," but, in addi- 
tion, it continually urged the local governments to send the accused, 
especially if they were either ecclesiastical persons, or strangers, to 
be tried by the Inquisition at Rome. Even the senate of Venice, 
though opposed to any interference with its authority, yielded, in 
some instances, to such requests. As soon as the Inquisition, thus 
remodeled, was erected throughout Italy, those who expressed senti- 
ments favorable to the Reformation were persecuted, and fled in great 
numbers. 



288 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

The pope, having taken the precaution of gaining over Ercole, 
duke of Ferrara, secured his co-operation in persecuting the Protest- 
ants of his dominions, many of whom were found in Modena. It 
has already been stated that there was a strong leaven of evangelical 
doctrine in the academy of that city, which Pope Paul III and his 
successors, Pius III, Marcellus II, and especially Paul IV, labored 
for years to extirpate. As Ercole was a bigoted Roman Catholic, 
and willing to be the merest tool of the pope, the members of the 
academy and others in Modena were exposed to great danger. Con- 
sultations relative to the growth of heretical opinions in that city 
were repeatedly held at. Rome; and Paul III would have severely 
censured the suspected academicians had not some of their personal 
friends in the conclave interfered, and averted the papal anathema. 
In June, A. D. 1542, it was proposed in the Vatican to summon 
some of the most influential persons among them to Rome or Bo- 
logna; but Cardinal Sadolet suggested that, first of all, a friendly let- 
ter should be addressed to them. Accordingly, he wrote in the most 
conciliatory spirit to Ludovico Castelvetro, stating what had occurred 
in the consistory, and urging him and his colleagues to give assur- 
ances of their attachment to the Roman Catholic faith, and abstain 
from every practice which might cast suspicion upon them. Castel- 
vetro and his companions, Grillenzoni, Portus, and Alessandro Mil- 
ano, answered this letter to the satisfaction of Sadolet, who insisted, 
however, that they should write to the pope himself, declaring that 
they were faithful sons of the Roman Catholic Church. They de- 
clined to do this, and thereby incurred anew the displeasure of the 
papal hierarchy. It was now resolved to propose or submit certain 
articles of faith to the members of the academy for their acceptance 
or rejection. 

The report of this created a great sensation in Modena. Portus, 
the Greek lecturer, and two of his companions left the city on dif- 
ferent pretexts, and those who remained loudly complained of the 
treatment which they received, declaring that if the proposed measure 
should be carried into effect freedom of investigation would be at an 
end. They likewise insisted that no honorable man would consent 
to think or write under such restrictions, and might as well sell his 
books and renounce the study of the Bible. The excitement was 
so intense that Cardinal Morone, who was deeply concerned for the 
peace of his see and the honor of the academy, regretted that he had 
sanctioned, though he did not originate, the measure. It is said that 
he wrote to the pope, praying him to suspend the subscription of 



CARDINAL MORONE'S POSITION. 289 

the formulary, because the academicians had given sufficient pledges 
of their loyalty to the Church, and simply declined to subscribe, 
because the world would then believe that they had been justly sus- 
pected of heresy. 

But the court of Rome was determined to enforce the obnoxious 
measure. Considerable light is shed upon these transactions by a 
document preserved in the ducal archives at Ferrara, which contains 
the secret instructions given by the governor of Modena to his chan- 
cellor, whom he sent, on the 2d of August, A. D. 1542, to consult 
with Hercules on this perplexing affair. It states that the academi- 
cians were opposed to subscription, and that, though they were will- 
ing to indorse some of the articles of the formulary, such matters 
should be referred to the determination of a council. This document 
also asserts that the bishop had proceeded in the matter with all pos- 
sible haste, and acted in concert with the governor, whom he had 
reminded that through the severity of Cardinal Cajetan, the papal 
legate to the Lutherans, a small spark had burst into a conflagration 
which continued still to "rage, and that he feared lest God, for the 
sins of the world, should permit so many men of genius, spirit, and 
subtlety to be driven to despair, and thereby enkindle another such 
flame in Italy. In this same document it is also stated that the pope, 
believing Morone's administration to be lacking in firmness, had em- 
ployed six cardinals in Rome to manage this affair at Modena, one of 
whom had already come to that city to see what could be done with 
the heretics, and that the bishop, being offended at this step, declared 
his intention to withdraw from the whole business, but was persuaded 
by the governor to aid in accomodating the parties and in receiving 
the subscriptions. 

In the beginning of September, 1542, Cardinals Sadolet and Cartese 
went to Modena to meet the bishop of that city, and endeavor to effect 
a reconciliation. Through the exertions of these commissioners from 
the pope a formulary of doctrines, drawn up with singular moderation 
by Contarini, at the request of Morone, was reluctantly subscribed 
by the suspected academicians. They refused, when first solicited, 
and demanded that the conservators of the city should set the exam- 
ple. It was with difficulty that three of them were induced to affix 
their names; and to encourage them still more, the cardinals con- 
sented to add their own signatures. But the members of the academy 
continued to demur, and, had it not been for the efforts of Morone, 
the negotiation would have failed. During interviews which he had 
with them, individually, he learned their objections, and he had list- 



290 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

ened with special candor and forbearance to the scruples of Berettari 
on the subject of the mass, and collateral topics. Having assembled 
them together, he spoke so earnestly and affectionately, that they 
complied with his request. A friendly invitation was extended to 
the brethren who had withdrawn, and, on their return, the whole 
body, together with the official men of the city, accepted the formu- 
lary, to the great joy of the commissioners. 

This arrangement, so eagerly urged by one party and so reluc- 
tantly acceded to by the other, did not produce real or permanent 
peace. The members of the academy retained their former senti- 
ments and embraced every opportunity of humiliating the priests, 
whom they regarded as the chief instigators of the late proceedings 
against their body. On the first Sunday of Advent, A. D. 1543, no 
sermon was preached in Modena, because, as one who lived in the 
city at that time expresses it in his journal, ' ' every preacher, how 
excellent soever, was criticised by certain literati, and none would come 
to contest with them on their own ground." In the following year 
the bishop sent a minor-conventual friar, named Bartolomeo della 
Pergala, whose preaching the journalist just quoted describes in the 
following quaint manner: "All the members of the academy went to 
hear him, to the number of more than twenty-five, including the book- 
seller, Antonio, who first introduced the prohibited books in the vulgar 
lanofuaee, which were afterwards burnt at Rome as heretical. The 
said friar did not preach the Gospel," — meaning that he selected his 
text from the Epistles, and not from the Gospels — "nor did he make 
mention of any saint, male or female, nor of any doctor of the Church, 
nor of Lent or fasting. This was to the taste of the academicians. 
Many believed that they would go to paradise in their stocking soles ; 
for, said they, Christ has paid for us." The bishop, discovering that 
he had sent the wrong preacher, ordered the arrest of Pergala, who 
was delivered over to the Inquisition. This tribunal condemned forty- 
six propositions in his doctrine, and commanded him to retract them 
publicly in the church in which he had preached. He complied by 
retracting in a formal manner ; but immediately after, an address was 
presented to him signed by the most respectable citizens, and testify- 
ing in the highest terms to his talents and character. Pontremolo, 
another monk of the same order, who preached at Modena during 
the same year, was condemned for teaching heretical doctrines. 

The persecution against the academicians was renewed, A. D. I545> 
and a strong effort made to seize Filippo Valentino, a young man of 
great intellectual precocity and versatile genius. Castelvetro says 



PERSECUTION RENE WED A T MODENA— VALENTINO. 29 1 

that, at seven years of age, Valentino composed letters in a style 
worthy of Cicero, and sonnets and canzoni which would have done 
honor to a poet of mature age. He could repeat, verbatim, sermons 
or lectures which he had heard only once ; and had the principal 
poets in Latin and Italian by heart. Pellegrino Erri, or Heri, a mem- 
ber of the academy, was insulted by some of his colleagues, and, 
having resolved to inform against them, he went to the ''Holy Office" 
at Rome and accused the literati of Modena of disaffection to the 
Roman Catholic Church. He also asserted that some of them were 
actively engaged in disseminating heresy in private. After hearing 
this statement, the pope addressed a letter to the duke of Ferrara, in 
which he referred to the information communicated by Erri, that the 
Lutheran heresy was daily increasing in Modena, and that Filippo 
Valentino was the author of the Protestant movement. He declared 
that such a condition of affairs must be a source of grief to a person 
of the duke's piety, and, therefore, exhorted him to arrest Filippo 
without delay, examine his papers and books, and destroy those 
which contained heretical sentiments. Erri, having been appointed 
apostolical commissiary, returned to Modena to suppress the alarm- 
ing evil, by seizing the leader, and thus more effectually reduce his 
accomplices to submission. With an armed force, which he obtained 
from the civil authorities, he surrounded the residence of Filippo 
one night; but the latter had been warned and escaped, leaving 
behind his book and papers, which were taken by the Inquisition. 
On the following morning a ducal edict was issued, prohibiting alL 
persons from having heretical books, or from disputing in public or- 
private on any religious subject, under the penalty, for the first of- 
fense, of a hundred crowns of gold, or of being subjected to the strap- 
pado if unable to pay that sum ; for the second offense, two thousand, 
pounds, or banishment from the state ; and, for the third offense,, 
confiscation of goods, or death. The proclamation of this severe 
edict caused great consternation in the city, and resulted in the over- 
throw of the academy. 

The duke, however, was persuaded to relent, and permitted! 
Filippo to return to Modena. During the pontificates of Julius III 
and Marcellus II the Protestants were not disturbed ; but when; 
Paul IV commenced his reign violent measures were adopted. 
There were still many persons in the city who were deeply attache^ 
to the evangelical cause ; and accordingly orders were sent from 
Rome that a secret investigation should be instituted to ascertain the 

sentiments of some of the prominent citizens. As this arrangement 

20 



292 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

was made without the knowledge either of the governor or of Fos- 
carari, who was now bishop of Modena, both of these dignitaries 
were offended at a movement which appeared to them unnecessary, 
and, besides, was an encroachment upon their authority. When the 
duke was informed of the proposed scheme he endeavored, through 
his minister at Rome, to defeat it, and thus prevent the enkindhng 
of a fire which had cost so much to be extinguished ; but he was 
compelled to yield to the pope. He reluctantly consented to the 
public enforcement of the order on the 6th of July, A. D. 1556, 
and Castelvetro, Filippo Valentino, his cousin Bonifacio, at that 
time provost of the cathedral church, and Gadaldino, the printer and 
and bookseller, were summoned to appear before the Inquisition at 
Rome. This event produced great excitement in Modena, and the 
conservators, at a meeting held on the 17th of July, prepared a 
strong remonstrance to the duke, in which they declared that it was 
unusual to summon laymen to Rome, thereby subjecting them to 
expense and inconvenience ; and that the charge of heresy would 
tarnish the good name of their city, which, the officials asserted, 
was then noted for its tranquillity. The address also stated that the 
revival of buried suspicions and the prosecution of individuals upon 
vague rumors would only add scandal to scandal ; and that the per- 
sons who were about to be arraigned before the court of Rome were 
virtuous men, very respectable, and universally esteemed. Why, then, 
should they be disgraced? The conservators reminded his excellency 
of a fact, known to himself, that- there were many men who, under the 
pretense of defending the faith, sought to gratify their personal revenge; 
and that there was reason to believe that the prosecution had origi- 
nated in prejudice or hatred. The duke was exhorted to remember the 
past, how that numerous expedients had already been tried without 
pacifying the authorities at Rome ; how that the whole city was 
compelled by the cardinals to submit to the test of subscription ; and 
how that his excellency had interposed his authority, and the local 
inquisitors had been diligent in their labors. What could they dis- 
cover in Rome that had not been discovered at Modena? 

After waiting a proper time for an answer, the conservators ap- 
pointed one of their number to visit the duke and urge him to pro- 
tect the interests of their fellow-citizens. The governor also addressed 
a letter to him in support of their application. The duke could not 
resist these appeals, and therefore requested the pope either to sus- 
pend the trial or, if this could not be granted, permit it to take 
place at Modena. Paul IV refused both of these requests. The 



THE TRIAL OF CASTELVETRO. 293 

duke, desiring to conciliate the stern pontiff, informed him in an- 
other communication that he had imprisoned the bookseller, Gadal- 
dino, who, on account of decrepitude, could not be safely conveyed 
to Bologna ; yet he should be sent if his holiness demanded it. The 
vice-legate of Bologna, however, soon after appeared at the court of 
Ferrara, and in the name of his master commanded the three Modenese 
gentlemen and the accused bookseller to be taken to Rome. The 
duke consented to send the provost, Filippo Valentino, because, 
being a priest, he was under greater obligations than his companions 
to obey the pope. The vice-legate promised that the trial should be 
so conducted that the prisoner would not be injured in his person or 
honor; but the promise was disregarded. He was detained a whole 
year in prison, and then compelled to make public recantation of the 
errors imputed to him in the church of Minerva at Rome, and after- 
wards to repeat the ceremony in his own church at Modena, on the 
28th of May, A. D. 1558. Although more than eighty years of 
age, Gadaldino, the poor printer, was carried to Rome, and detained 
in prison for a still longer period than Filippo had spent there. The 
latter, like Castelvetro, did not appear before the Inquisition at the 
appointed time, and both were excommunicated for contumacy. 
Orders were sent to the bishop that he should cause the sentence to 
be intimated at Modena, and he consulted the duke, who, indignant 
on account of previous treatment, forbade the intimation. 

It is not known where Filippo Valentino sought refuge from the 
fury of the relentless pontiff; but his friend Castelvetro appears to 
have lived secretly in Ferrara. Pope Paul IV and Hercules II, duke 
of Ferrara, died A. D. 1559, ^"^ their successors were respectively 
Pius IV and Alfonso II. The new duke, hoping to find the new 
pontiff more conciliatory, applied for a commission to try the cause 
of Castelvetro within his territories. The request was not granted; 
and Castelvetro, having received assurances of protection from the 
duke and persons belonging to the papal court, was induced to go 
to Rome. At first he was treated with great courtesy, and, instead 
of being thrust into prison, was invited to reside in the convent of 
Santa Maria in Via, with permission to receive his friends ; but after 
his third appearance before the inquisitors he learned that they had 
obtained strong evidence against him, and, fearing that they would 
torture him, he suddenly left Rome, along with his brother Giamma- 
ria. The cardinals of the congregation published their final sentence 
on the 26th of November, A. D. 1560, pronouncing him a fugitive 
and impenitent heretic, who had incurred all the pains, spiritual and 



294 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT, 

temporal, decreed against such criminals, and urging every person 
who might have it in his power to arrest him and send him as a 
prisoner to Rome. He was publicly burned in effigy, and earnest 
letters were written to the duke of Ferrara to seize the fugitive 
brothers and confiscate their property. 

One of the principal charges against Castelvetro was that he had 
translated into Italian a work of Melanchthon on the "Authority of 
the Church and the Fathers," a copy of which, said to be in his own 
handwriting, was produced on his trial. The charge was mentioned 
by Pallavicini, but the name of the book was not given. Fonlanini 
assumed that it was the ''Common Places" of Melanchthon which 
led Muratori to call in question the truth of the whole charge. But, 
as Dr. M'Crie declares, "the book — the indentical corpus delicti, 
which was verified before the Inquisition — has since been discovered 
in the archives of St. Angelo." In a short epistle to the reader the 
translator states that he had added a few notes, chiefly explanatory 
of certain Greek words used in "this noble little work." Tiraboschi 
expresses the opinion that the style of this book corresponds per- 
fectly Avith that of the undoubted works of Castelvetro. 

Ferrara was regarded by the Romish hierarchy as the nursery of 
heresy in Italy, and therefore, while making vigorous efforts to crush 
the reform movement in Modena, its enemies seemed to be more 
determined to extirpate it in the city of Renee. Paul III instructed 
the ecclesiastical authorities there to be diligent in investigating the 
conduct of persons of every rank and order who were suspected of 
entertaining erroneous sentiments. The usual method of procedure 
was urged — the taking of depositions, the use of the torture, the 
definitive sentence, and the transmission to Rome for final judgment. 
The execution of this edict produced great distress, which was 
increased by the adoption of new but dishonorable expedients for 
detecting those who wavered in their attachment to the Romish 
Church. At this time, A. D. 1545, commissioned spies were sent 
forth into all parts of Italy, and, having been supplied with recom- 
mendations, were admitted to private families, insinuated themselves 
into the company and the confidence of all classes, and then con- 
veyed to the Vatican the information thus secretly collected. By 
assuming a variety of characters they could associate with the learned 
and ignorant, and were to be found equally in courts and cloisters. 
By this means many excellent persons were entrapped in Ferrara. 
These pests of society succeeded in ahenating the mind of the duke 
from the accomplished Olympia Morata, who, on the death of her 



PERSECUTIONS UNDER POPE JULIUS III 295 

father, A. D. 1548, left the palace, to take charge of her widowed 
mother and the younger members of the family. The court treated 
her in a harsh and ungrateful manner; and she would have passed 
through a severer ordeal had not a German student, named Andrew 
Grunthler, who was preparing himself for the medical profession, 
married her, and carried her along with him to his native country. 

Paul III died A. D. 1550, and was succeeded by Cardinal De 
Monte, under the title of Julius III. This pontiff was indolent and 
voluptuous, but personal indulgence did not entirely divert his atten- 
tion from current events, and he signed without any remorse the 
cruel orders dictated by those whom he had appointed to manage 
public affairs. In the same year of his elevation to the papal throne 
the Protestant Church at Ferrara was dispersed ; many were cast into 
prison, and one of their preachers, distinguished for piety, was put 
to death. Olympia Morata writes to Celio Secundo Curio on this 
subject: '*We did not come here with the intention of returning to 
Italy; for you are not ignorant how dangerous it is to profess Chris- 
tianity in that country where Antichrist has his throne. I hear that 
the rage against the saints is at present so violent that former sever- 
ities were but child's play compared with those which are practiced 
by the new pope, who can not, like his predecessor, be moved by 
entreaties and intercession." And in another letter she says: *'I 
learn, from letters which I have lately received out of Italy, that the 
Christians are treated with great cruelty at Ferrara; neither high nor 
low are spared; some are imprisoned, others banished, and others 
obliged to save their lives by flight." 

While the Romish authorities were successful in abolishing the 
Protestant Church at Ferrara, they were not entirely satisfied so long 
as a prominent member of the ducal family refused obedience to 
their authority. The clergy \vere aggravated by Renee's opposition 
to them, because her high rank and great accomplishments gave her 
influence, which she used for the promotion of the evangelical move- 
ment. Not having the power to subdue her firmness, they resolved 
to humble her pride ; but she did not waver. Instead of concealing 
her partiality to the Protestant doctrines, she openly expressed her 
disapproval of the late persecutions, and did all within her power to 
protect those who were exposed to the fury of the Inquisition. The 
pope, therefore, earnestly and repeatedly remonstrated with her hus- 
band concerning the corrupt influences that were perverting the minds 
of his children and servants, and the pernicious example that was 
presented to his subjects. He also reminded the duke that the house 



296 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

of Este, which had been so long celebrated for the purity of its faith 
and its devotion to the Holy See, was in danger of being stained 
with heresy, and that, if he did not speedily suppress the evil, he 
would personally incur the censures of the Church and forfeit the 
friendship of all Catholic princes. These remonstrances moved the 
duke, and led him to importune the duchess to avert the displeasure 
of the pope by renouncing the Protestant doctrines, and engaging in 
the rites of the established worship. As she persistently refused to 
yield, the Inquisition resolved to employ foreign influence. It is 
probable that the duke disliked to resort to extreme measures, and, 
accordingly, permitted the pope to take the responsibility. He pro- 
cured the assistance of the king of France, who was Renee's nephew. 

The French monarch, Henry II, sent Oritz, his inquisitor, to the 
court of Ferrara. He appears to have been the same individual of 
whom we read at an earlier period of the history of France. * ' Notre 
Maitre Oris," the inquisitor of the faith, was appointed, A. D. 1534, 
to search for heretics in Sancerre; but the inhabitants, discovering 
his fondness for good living, treated him with such hospitality that 
he reported them to be an excellent class of people. His deputy, 
Rocheli, on his return, made a similar statement concerning them. 
The LieiLtcnant Criininel was indignant because his prey had escaped, 
and declared that ''good wine would at any time make all these 
fellows quiet." But "Notre Maitre" was then young, and had not 
yet tasted blood. When appointed to visit the court of Ferrara, he 
was instructed to ascertain to what extent Renee had imbibed error, 
and then to request a personal interview with her, at the same time 
stating to her how deeply grieved his most "Christian Majesty" felt 
when he heard that "his only aunt," whom he had always loved so 
tenderly and esteemed so highly, had embraced these detestable and 
heretical doctrines. 

Oritz was also commanded, should gentle means, such as argu- 
ments and remonstrances, be unsuccessful, to employ severe measures 
to reduce her to submission, and, in the mean time, he was to preach 
a series of discourses on those principal points, concerning which she 
had erred, and compel her and all the family to attend the service, 
"whatever refusal or objection she might think proper to make." 
If all these efforts should fail to reclaim her, he was next required to 
entreat the duke in her presence, and, in his majesty's name, to 
"sequester her from all society and conversation," that she might 
not have the opportunity of contaminating the minds of others, to 
remove her children from her and not permit any of the family, of 



RENEE'S CONSTANCY. 297 

whatever nation they might be, who were accused or strongly sus- 
pected of heresy, to approach her. In fact, he was even empowered 
to bring them to trial and to pronounce a sentence of exemplary 
punishment on those who were found guilty, the duke reserving the 
right to indicate such a mode of process and of inflicting punishment 
that would promote justice without causing scandal or disgracing the 
duchess and her dependents. 



Chapter XVIII. 

PERSECUTION IN NORTHERN ITALY. 

THE daughter of Louis XH was neither to be persuaded nor 
frightened into an abandonment of what she conscientiously 
believed to be the truth. Combined with her fervent piety was an 
independent spirit which spurned these conditions. When she refused 
to violate her conscience her children were taken away from her, 
charges of heresy preferred against her confidential servants, and she 
herself detained as a prisoner in the palace. She could have patiently 
endured the insolence of Oritz, but she keenly felt the upbraidings 
of her husband, who, disregarding her explanations, commanded her 
immediately and unconditionally to conform herself to the Roman 
Catholic Church. The pope subsequently rewarded the duke for his 
zeal by depriving his grandson of the dukedom of Ferrara, and adding 
it to the possessions of the Church. The duchess bravely submitted 
to the harsh treatment of her husband for some time, aggravated as 
it was by a life of shameful intrigues and criminality, but w^hen that 
truculent pontiff, Paul IV, began his reign, A. D. 1555, the persecu- 
tion commenced to rage with greater violence. It seems that Renee 
was more bitterly assailed than ever, and, desiring to be restored to 
the society of her children, she at last was induced to make some 
unimportant concessions. Ercole, or Hercules II, duke of Ferrara, 
died A. D. 1558, and, notwithstanding his immoralities, he was hon- 
ored by Paul IV with the title of ''Defender of the Church." After 
the death of her husband Renee returned to France, where her 
nephew, Henry II, was still on the throne, and took up her abode in 
the Castle of Montargis, a small and ancient city some forty miles 
south-east of Paris. There she spent the remainder of her life and 
made an open profession of the Protestant religion. 



298 ' ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

During the sixteen years which she Hved after her return from 
Italy Renee devoted all her energies and resources to the relief of 
the poor, persecuted Protestants of her native land. In this work of 
benevolence she was compelled, of course, to encountei' the hatred 
of the fanatical priest-party of the kingdom, at the head of which 
stood the Guises, one of whom was the husband of her daughter, 
Anne. Francis II, the son and the successor on the throne of 
Henry II, was a mere youth without experience, and entirely under 
the control of a bigoted faction when he commenced the persecution 
of the Protestants. The houses of those whose names appeared on 
the lists of the proscribed were pillaged and torn down, and many 
persons were put to death. The prince of Conde, a distinguished 
Protestant, was cast into prison at Orleans, and his sister-in-law, the 
countess of Roye, was thrown into that of St. Germain-en-Laye. 
Renee hastened to Orleans to save Conde. She met the duke of 
Guise, her son-in-law, and, in denouncing his perfidy, boldly said 
that, *'if she had been there she would have prevented. what had been 
done ; whoever gave the king such advice has deceived him ; this 
wound Avill bleed a long time hereafter, and so much the more as no 
one has ever become fond of shedding the blood of France wi'thout 
finding evil in so doing." 

The duke of Guise subsequently sent an armed force to Montar- 
gis, under the conduct of Jean de Souches-Malicorne, to arrest the 
unfortunate Protestants who were being protected by the duchess 
Renee. During the struggle a number of these people were killed, 
their houses were burned, and then razed to the ground. The duch- 
ess retired to the castle, into which all fled that could. De Souches 
threatened to advance his cannon and demolish the fortress. But he 
received this bold answer from the courageous Renee: ''Consider 
well what you do; know that no one has the right to command me 
but the king himself; and that, if you come hither, I will be the first 
to mount the breach, where I shall see if you have the audacity to 
kill the daughter of a king who desires only to protect her subjects, 
and whose death heaven and earth will be bound to avenge upon you 
and all your line, even to your children who are in their cradles." 
When this noble answer was reported to the duke of Guise, he ceased 
to threaten the Protestants. His death, by the hand of a fanatical 
Protestant named Poltrot, occurred soon after, and caused Renee the 
deepest sorrow. She deplored the civil war which the Roman Cath- 
ohcs, supported by the government, had inaugurated to destroy by 
force the new religion. 



DUCHESS RE NEE. 



299 



The only crime of which Protestants were guilty was their belief 
in a religion founded on the Gospel, which inculcated the practice 
of good works instead of vain superstitions, and taught men to 
rely for salvation upon the merit of a once crucified but now 
exalted Savior. The Romish Church urged the necessity of pen- 
ances, pilgrimages, and other human inventions, and breathed out 




DUCHESS RENEE. 



*'threatenings and slaughter" against all who believed in the doc- 
trine of salvation by faith, and trusted in the merits of Christ alone, 
without the mediation of priests and confessors. Renee had ex- 
perienced the power of divine grace in her own heart, and labored 
to bring others into the ways of righteousness and holiness, which she 
had herself found. She desired this religion to be propagated by 
reason and persuasion, and not by force. But the voice of humanity 
was not likely to be heard in those days, and all that this noble 
woman could do was to labor in behalf of the Protestant cause, and, 



300 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

as far as her influence extended, to shield the pastors. She main- 
tained a constant correspondence with the principal men among them 
until her death, which occurred at Montargis, on the I2th of June, 
1575. To the close of her life she was a consistent and devoted 
Protestant, and by her opposition to Romanism showed that she 
was a worthy daughter of him who caused to be inscribed on the 
medal which was struck on the occasion of the council of Lyons — 
the council which proclaimed the liberties of the Gallican Church — 
'' DesMiani Babyloncm,'' or, '' I will destroy Babylon,'' meaning Rome. 

The Protestants of France to this day revere the memory of this 
noble princess, who was an ornament to the religion which they pro- 
fess. Renee had five children : two sons, Alfonso, who became duke 
of Ferrara, celebrated as the patron, and afterwards the enemy of 
Torquato Tasso ; Louis, Cardinal d'Este ; and three daughters, Anne, 
who married first, Francis of Lorraine, called the duke of Guise, and 
afterwards the duke of Savoy ; Lucretia, duchess of Urbino, and the 
Princess Elenora, who died unmarried. For the latter poor Tasso 
entertained a strong affection, which has been considered the cause 
of the misfortunes which overshadowed and embittered the closing 
years of his life. The eldest daughter, Anne of Este, "whose integrity 
of understanding and sensibility of heart were worthy of a better age," 
did not, like her mother, openly avow her attachment to the Protestant 
cause, but she exerted all her influence to moderate the violence of 
her bigoted husbands, Francis, duke of Guise, and James of Savoy, 
duke of Nemours, who were two of the most ardent Roman Catho- 
lics in France. In her youth, the example and instructions of Olym- 
pia Morata were of inestimable value to her. She was the only one 
of Renee's children that resembled her, either in goodness of heart or 
vigor of intellect. Condorcet, De Thou, Riccio, Paleario, Calcagnini, 
and other French and Italian authors, have extolled this amiable prin- 
cess. In the published works of Olympia Morata, there is a beauti- 
fulletter, addressed to "Annae Estensi, Principi Guisianae." 

While the Romish hierarchy was anxious to suppress the Refor- 
mation in the dominions of the duke of Ferrara, its desire to extir- 
pate heresy within the territories of the Venetian republic was not 
less strong. The flight of Ochino caused a searching investigation to 
be made for the purpose of ascertaining the sentiments of the Capu- 
chins residing in that part of Italy. For several years after this the 
pope sent letters and nuncios to the senate, urging the suppression 
of the Lutheran doctrines, which had been embraced by many promi- 
nent citizens, especially in Vicenza. At that time Cardinal Rodolfo 



THE PROTESTANTS OF VICENZA DISPERSED. 30 1 

was administrator of the bishopric of Vicenza, and manifested great 
zeal in opposing the Protestant movement ; but the local magistrates 
would not permit the secular power to be employed against it. It 
may be that they disliked to interfere, or perhaps they knew that the 
superiors, who publicly issued. the orders, did not wish them to be 
enforced. When the pope became acquainted with the situation of 
affairs, he wrote a long and earnest letter to the senate, first compli- 
menting them on their former religious zeal and devotion to the 
court of Rome, and then informing them that innovation in religion 
would result in civil dissensions and sedition among them, as it had 
done elsewhere. In this letter, written A. D. 1546, Paul III com- 
plains that the podesta and capitano of Vicenza had disobeyed the 
commands so often given to them, and permitted the Lutheran 
heresy to be openly professed before their masters of the CEcumenical 
Council, which had been called and was now in session at Trent, 
chiefly for the purpose of suppressing this evil. The pontiff, there- 
fore, earnestly exhorts the doge and senators that they should com- 
pel these magistrates to seize and punish the heretics, and thus, by 
assisting the vicars of the diocese, compensate for their past negli- 
gence. The senate complied with this request, and promulgated 
orders which resulted in the dispersion of the Protestant Church at 
Vicenza, A. D. 1547. 

The senate adopted similar measures throughout their dominions. 
An edict was issued, A. D. 1548, ordering all who possessed books 
which contained any thing contrary to the Roman Catholic faith to 
deliver them up within eight days, or be proceeded against as heretics. 
This was followed by great severities against the Protestants, not only 
in the city of Venice but in all its territories. The excellent Altieri, 
who was one of the most steadfast friends of the truth in Venice, 
gives affecting accounts in his letters to Bullinger and other Protest- 
ants in Switzerland of the state of things around him. He writes: 
**The persecution here increases every day. Many are seized, of 
whom some have been sent to the galleys, others condemned to per- 
petual imprisonment, and some, alas, have been induced by fear 
of punishment to recant. Many have been banished along with 
their wives and children, while still greater numbers have fled for 
their lives. Matters are brougjit to that pass that I begin to fear for 
myself; for, though I have frequently been able to protect others in 
this storm, there is reason to apprehend that the same hard terms 
will be proposed to me ; but it is the will of God that his people be 
tried by such afflictions." Altieri continued to exert his influence 



302 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

with unwearied and commendable zeal in behalf of his brethren, pro- 
curing letters favorable to them from the elector of Saxony and other 
German princes, for whom he acted as agent with the Venetian 
republic. He also visited Switzerland to persuade the Protestant 
cantons to espouse the cause of his persecuted countrymen, and 
when on his homeward journey he attended an assembly of the 
deputies of the Grison Confederation at Coire, where he made an 
earnest plea in behalf of the Venetian Protestants. 

Altieri was successful in both places in obtaining letters to the 
senate of Venice, imploring lenient treatment of the Protestants ; but 
he was much disappointed because he failed to procure a public com- 
mission to act for these states. If his expectations in this matter could 
have been realized, he would have possessed greater influence with 
the authorities at Venice. It may be that the civil rulers of Switzer- 
land and the Grisons had sufficient reasons for not complying with 
his request ; but, after reading his letters to Bullinger, a distinguished 
minister of Zurich, we sympathize with this good man in his bitter 
disappointment and sad repinings, and admire his rare example of 
disinterested devotion to the cause of Christ and the best interests 
of his country at a period when comparatively few either knew or 
cared for them. In a letter written to Bullinger from Coire he says: 
**I have delivered your letter and that of Myconius to the ministers 
of this Church ; I have also conversed with them on my business, 
but find them rather lukewarm, either because this is their natural 
disposition, or because they think the matter too difficult to be 
obtained, especially after your friends in Switzerland have refused it. 
They, however, give me some hopes of success. In another letter to 
the same correspondent, he writes: ''From the assembly of the 
Grison states, which has been held here, I have only been able to 
obtain commendatory letters ; had it not been for the opposition 
made by some enemies of religion, I would have also obtained a 
public commission. They have concluded a treaty with France ; the 
emperor's embassador was present, but could do nothing." 

After mentioning the discouragements he had met with from 
those of whom he had expected better things, Altieri exclaims: 
*'Thus do the minds of men now cleave to the world! If the spirit 
of the Lord had not long ago taken possession of my heart, I would 
have followed the common example, and, hiding myself in some 
secret corner, attended to my own private affairs instead of taking an 
active part in the cause of Christ. But God forbid that I should 
entertain the blasphemous thought of desisting to labor for him, who 



THE BANISHMENT OF ALTIERI. 303 

never ceased to labor in my cause until he had endured tlie reproach 
of the cross. Therefore, I return to Italy ready, as before, to 
encounter whatever may befall me, and willing to be bound for the 
name of Christ." Before leaving the Orisons he received the infor- 
mation that the persecution was daily becoming more severe at 
Venice. "It is not, therefore, without danger that I return," says 
he, in another letter, ' ' for you know how much I am hated by the 
papists and wicked. I do not undertake the journey rashly ; God 
will preserve me from all evil; do you pray for me." On his arrival 
at Venice he discovered that his enemies had arrayed the magistrates 
against him, and he was commanded either to renounce the Protest- 
ant faith or immediately leave the territories of the republic. Without 
hesitation he chose the latter alternative ; but, not despairing of the ref- 
ormation of his native land, and desiring to aid his persecuted breth- 
ren, he wandered with his wife and child from city to city — now stay- 
ing a short time at Ferrara, then at Bologna, and again at Florence. 

At length, when he could no longer appear in public, he sought 
an asylum for himself and his family in a retired place near Brescia. 
Soon after his banishment from Venice he wrote to Bullinger, saying: 
''Take the following particulars concerning my return to Italy. I 
am well, with my wife and little child. As to other things, all the 
effect of my commendatory letters was an offer on the part of the 
senate that I should be allowed to remain in safety among them, 
provided I would yield conformity to their religion — that is, the 
Roman ; otherwise it behooved me to withdraw without delay from 
their dominions. Having devoted myself to Christ, I chose exile 
rather than the enjoyment of pleasant Venice, with its execrable 
religion. I departed accordingly; and went first to Ferrara, and 
afterwards to Florence." In another letter, written to BuUinger 
from his place of retirement, he says: "Know that I am in great 
trouble and danger of my life, nor is there a place in Italy where I 
can be safe with my wife and boy. My fears for myself increase 
daily ; for I know the wicked will never rest till they have swallowed 
me up alive. I entreat a share in your prayers." This is the last 
intelligence that was ever heard of that noble man. It is probable 
that he never escaped from Italy; and his fate will no doubt remain 
a secret until the mysteries and crimes of the Romish Inquisition 
shall be disclosed. 

If the Protestants of the capital received such treatment, it is not 
surprising that the magistrates of Venice permitted the severest 
measures to be employed against them in the more distant provinces. 



304 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Dreadful scenes of suffering were witnessed in the beautiful peninsula 
of Capo d'Istria. The agents of the papal court were greatly irri- 
tated by the more than suspected defection of the two Vergerii, of 
whom we have already spoken as the bishops, respectively, of Capo 
d'Istria and Pola. The Romish inquisitor, Annibale Grisone, was 
sent into these dioceses, A. D. 1546, and by his activity and cruelty 
spread alarm and distress among the inhabitants. The papal bull 
was read by him from all the pulpits, and was, as usual, full of 
threatenings. It required all, under the pain of excommunication, 
to inform against those whom they suspected of heresy, and to de- 
liver up the prohibited books which might be in their possession. 
He promised to forgiv^e the penitent when they confessed and sup- 
plicated mercy ; but those who, concealing their crimes, should be 
convicted on information, would be consigned to the flames. Not 
content with public denunciations, he visited every house in search 
of heretical books. Whoever confessed that they had read the New 
Testament in the vulgar tongue were commanded, under the severest 
pains, to abstain from that dangerous practice in the future. The 
rich were allowed to perform private penance, but the poor were 
compelled to make a public recantation. At first only a few persons 
of weaker minds were induced to inform against themselves or their 
acquaintances ; but at last every one feared that his neighbor would 
get the start of him, and a reign of terror was inaugurated. The 
wife informed against her husband, the son against his father, the 
client against his patron. Grisone, taking advantage of the excited 
state of the public mind, ascended the pulpit in the cathedral of 
Capo d'Istria on a great festive day, and, after celebrating mass, 
addressed the crowd. "You see," said he, "the calamities which 
have befallen you for some years past. At one time your fields, at 
another your olive-trees, at another your vines, have failed; you 
have been afflicted in your cattle, and in the whole of your substance. 
To what are all these evils to be ascribed ? To your bishop, and the 
heretics whom he protects ; nor can you expect any alleviation of 
your distress until they are punished. Why do you not rise up and 
stone them?" This harangue so inflamed the ignorant and alarmed 
multitude that Vergerio was compelled to conceal himself. 

Amid this excitement the bishop of Pola suddenly died, and 
many believed that he had been poisoned. His brother, leaving his 
diocese, took refuge at Mantua with his patron, Cardinal Gonzaga, 
who soon dismissed him because the celebrated Delia Casa, the papal 
nuncio at Venice, communicated to him certain facts concerning the 



VERGERIO. 305 

bishop's course. Vergerio then visited the Council of Trent for the 
purpose of vindicating himself, or, as some assert, of demanding his 
seat in that assembly. The pope would have issued an order for his 
arrest, but he feared that the impression might be made upon the 
minds of the German Protestants that the council was not free. As 
he professed to be anxious to have them present, he deemed it prudent 
not to molest Vergerio. The papal legates, desiring to remove such 
a dangerous person from Trent, resolved to change the summons 
which ordered him to appear at Rome, and remit the trial of the 
charges brought against him to the nuncio and patriarch of Venice. 
Vergerio conducted his defense with such ability and tact that the 
trial was protracted for two years, at the end of which he was pro- 
hibited from returning to his diocese. Francesco Spira, a lawyer of 
Padua, died about this time in a state of great mental anguish, be- 
cause, dreading the terrors of the Inquisition, he had recanted the 
Protestant faith. Vergerio, who had come from Venice to Padua, 
was present when he died, and united with some other learned and 
pious persons in endeavoring to comfort the miserable penitent. 

Such a deep and solemn impression was made upon the mind of 
Vergerio by this death-bed scene that he determined to abandon his 
bishopric and native country, and to select a place of refuge where 
he could publicly and safely profess the truth which he had embraced. 
"To tell the truth," says he, "I felt such a flame in my breast that 
I could scarcely restrain myself at times from going to the chamber- 
door of the legate at Venice and crying out : ' Here I am ; where 
are your prisons and your fires? Satisfy your utmost desire upon 
me ; burn me for the cause of Christ, I beseech you, since I have 
had an opportunity of comforting the miserable Spira, and of pub- 
lishing what it was the will of God should be published.' " The his- 
tory of Spira was compiled by Vergerio, with the assistance of letters 
from Celio Secundo Curio and other writers. In a letter to Bullinger, 
dated the 15th of August, A. D. 1549, Calvin refers to a recent let- 
ter which he received from Vergerio, who sent him the history of 
Spira, saying that the chief cause of his exile from Italy was this 
book, and requesting him to write a preface to it. Calvin consented, 
and the work Avas printed A. D. 1550. Two years previously Ver- 
gerio, to the surprise equally of those whom he had deserted and of 
those whom he joined, retired into the Grisones. 

The inquisitor Grisone was succeeded by Tomasso de Santa Stella, 
who, after annoying the inhabitants by his outrageous proceedings, 
endeavored to persuade the senate of Venice to place garrisons in 



306 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

their principal cities, under the pretext that Vergerio intended to 
invade Istria. The latter published a defense of his conduct, ad- 
dressed to the doge and senate, and containing his views of the 
secret and violent methods employed by the persecutors throughout 
Italy. After complaining of their cruelties, he states several facts 
relative to their conduct in the Venetian dominions. "Nothing," 
says he, * ' can be more shameful than what this pope has done. He 
has conferred honors and rewards on such of your prelates as are 
unprofitable and godless ; but the bishop of Bergamo, your country- 
man of the house of Soranzo, he has thrown into prison, for no 
other reason than that he opposed non-residence and superstition, 
and testified a regard for the doctrine of the Gospel. What is it to 
exercise oppression and tyranny over you if this is not? Is it pos- 
sible that this should not awaken you?" The papal agents, having 
encroached on criminal jurisdiction, were about this time resisted by 
the senate, which manifested a disposition to check their violent pro- 
ceedings. "The news from Italy is," says Vergerio, "that the 
senate of Venice have made a decree that no papal legate nor bishop 
nor inquisitor shall proceed against any subject except in the pres- 
ence of a civil magistrate, and that the pope, enraged at this, has 
fulminated a bull, interdicting under the heaviest pains any secular 
prince from interposing the least hinderance to trials for heresy. It 
remains to be seen whether the Venetians will obey." 

The court of Rome, however, by its perseverance and intrigues, 
finally achieved a victory over patrician jealousy. The Inquisition 
even arrested and detained foreigners who visited the republic to 
transact business. Frederic de Salice, who had been sent to Venice 
from the republic of the Grisons to demand the release of some of its 
subjects, wrote, A. D. 1557, the following account of matters there: 
"In this commonwealth, and in general throughout Italy, where 
the pope possesses what they call spiritual jurisdiction, the faithful 
are subjected to the severest inquisition. Ample authority is given 
to the inquisitors, on the smallest information, to seize any one at 
their pleasure, to put him to the torture, and (what is worse than 
death) to send him to Rome ; which was not wont to be the case 
until the time of the reigning pontiff. I am detained here longer 
than I could wish, and know not when I shall be able to extricate 
myself from this labyrinth." This embassador had scarcely returned 
home, after accomplishing his object, when another of his coun- 
trymen, a merchant, was cast into prison by the Inquisition at 
Vicenza. 



VENETIAN PROTESTANTS IMPRISONED. 307 

Hercules de Salice, late governor of the Orisons, was sent to 
procure his release; but the remonstrances of this prominent man, 
seconded by the influence of the French embassador, were for some 
time disregarded by the senate. This body endeavored to evade the 
terms of the treaty between the two countries, and the concessions 
which they had made during the preceding year. The embassador 
from the Grisons, having secured a public audience, denounced the 
intolerable arrogance of the papal claims with such boldness and elo- 
quence that, though the elder patricians murmured, a majority of the 
senate voted for an immedate discharge of the prisoner. Several of 
the senators afterwards thanked Hercules de Salice for his courage, 
which enabled him, as a foreigner, and formerly in the military service 
of Venice, to declare what would have cost a patrician his life. The 
pope rewarded the zeal which the senate of Venice had manifested 
against the Lutheran heresy by conferring on that assembly, A. D. 
1559, the perpetual right of electing their own patriarch. 

Notwithstanding all that was done to suppress the Protestant 
religion in Venice, there continued to be a considerable remnant who 
faithfully adhered to it. Those who professed this faith met regu- 
larly in a private house for the worship of God, and called a minis- 
ter, A. D. 1560, to organize them into a Church, and administer to 
them the Lord's-supper. The papal court, by means of its spies, 
soon ascertained that the heretics were holding meetings, and ordered 
the attendants to be arrested. Those who failed in making their es- 
cape were thrown into prison. Many fled to the province of Istria, 
and, after remaining in concealment there for some time, twenty- 
three of them purchased a vessel to transport them to a foreign 
country. When they were about to sail, an avaricious foreigner, who 
had been informed of their project, arraigned three of them before 
the local magistrates to secure the payment oi a debt, which he 
claimed they owed him. Failing to extort money from them, he 
accused them of being heretics, who had fled from justice. Accord- 
ingly they were arrested, taken to Venice, and thrown into the same 
prisons with their brethren. The senate had refused all previous 
requests for the infliction of capital punishment on the Protestants, 
though, in the remoter provinces, the local magistrates, in some in- 
stances, yielded to the demand of the inquisitors, and condemned 
some to death. But at this period the senators obeyed the counsels 
of the Inquisition, which they had so long resisted, and the reign of 
cruelty was inaugurated, disgracing, during its continuance, the crim- 
inal jurisdiction of the republic. Drowning was the mode of capital 



308 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

punishment adopted by the Venetian authorities, either because it 
was less cruel and odious than that of burning, or because it was in 
accordance with the customs of Venice. While the aiitos-da-fe of the 
"Queen of the Adriatic" were not so barbarous as those of Spain, 
yet they were accompanied with a terrible silence and solitude, which 
rendered them appalling. The prisoner was taken from his cell at 
the hour of midnight, and placed in a gondola, as the small and 
swiftly gliding boat of Venice is called, with no other attendants but 
the rowers, and a priest to act as a confessor. After being rowed out 
into the sea, beyond the Two Castles, another boat approached, and 
came alongside of them. The prisoner was then laid on a plank 
whose ends rested on the two boats. His body was chained, and a 
heavy stone was attached to his feet. A signal being given, the 
gondolas separated, and the victim was plunged into the deep, to rise 
no more ''till the sea gives up her dead." 

The first person who suffered martyrdom in the city of Venice, 
was Julio Guirlauda, a native of the Trevisano. When set on the 
plank, he cheerfully said, ** Farewell," to the captain, and sank into 
the deep, calling on the Lord Jesus. He passed away on the 19th 
of October, A. D. 1562, in the fortieth year of his age. Antonio 
Ricetto, of Vicenza, a most honorable man, was the next martyr. 
After he had been convicted, so highly was he esteemed that the 
senators promised to restore to him, not only his liberty, but also the 
whole of his property, part of which had been sold, and the rest 
promised away, provided he would renounce the Protestant faith. 
His firmness was more severely tried by his son, a boy of twelve 
years of age, who, when admitted into the prison, fell at his feet, be- 
seeching him, in the most pathetic manner, to accept the conditions 
of deliverance made to him, and not leave his child an orphan. 
When informed, one day by the keeper of the prison, that one of his 
companions had recanted, he merely replied, "What is that to me?" 
He retained his courage in the gondola and on the plank, praying 
for those who ignorantly put him. to death, and commending his 
soul to his Savior. His death occurred on the 15th of February, 
A. D. 1566. Francesco Sega, a native of Rovigo, composed several 
religious works during his confinement, for the comfort of his fellow- 
prisoners, part of which Avas preserved after his death. He was 
drowned on the 25th of February, A. D. 1566. Francesco Spinula, 
a native of Milan, being a priest, was more closely questioned than 
his brethren. He was arraigned thrice before the judges, and the 
papal legate, together with many of the chief clergy, attended, on 



FRA BALDO LUPETINO. 309 

one of these occasions. They threatened him with a fiery death ; 
but he openly professed the Protestant faith, and fearlessly denounced 
the usurpations of the pope, the doctrine of purgatory, and the 
invocation of saints. The length and severity of his confinement 
prostrated him, and, taking advantage of his sickness, his enemies 
extorted some concessions from him ; but when he recovered he im- 
mediately retracted them. He was then formally degraded from the 
priesthood, and, on the 31st of January, A. D. 1567, was consigned 
to a watery grave. 

But the most distinguished of all the martyrs of Venice was the 
venerable Fra Baldo Lupetino. The following account of him b}' his 
nephew, in a book now become very rare, deserves to be preserved 
entire : "The reverend Baldus Lupetinus sprung from a noble and an- 
cient family was a learned monk and provincial of the order to which 
he belonged. After having long preached the Word of God in both 
the vulgar languages (the Italian and Sclavonian) in many cities, and 
defended it by public disputation in several places of celebrity, with 
great applause, he was at last thrown into close prison at Venice by 
the inquisitor and papal legate. In this condition he continued, dur- 
ing nearly twenty years, to bear an undaunted testimony to the Gos- 
pel of Christ; so that his bonds and doctrine were made known, not 
only to that city, but to the whole of Italy, and even to Europe at 
large, by which means evangelical truth was more widely spread. 
Two things among many others, may be mentioned as marks of the 
singular providence of God toward this person during his imprison- 
ment. In the first place, the princes of Germany often interceded 
for his liberation, but without success. And, secondly, on the other 
hand, the papal legate, the inquisitor, and even the pope himself, 
labored with all their might, and by repeated applications, to have 
him, from the very first, committed to the flames as a noted here- 
siarch. This was refused by the doge and senate, who, when he was 
at last condemned, freed him from the punishment of fire by an 
express decree. It was the will of God that he should bear his testi- 
mony to the truth for so long a time ; and that, like a person affixed 
to a cross, he should, as from an eminence, proclaim to all the world 
the restoration of Christianity and the revelation of Antichrist. At 
last, this pious and excellent man, whom neither threatenings nor 
promises could move, sealed his doctrine by an undaunted, martyr- 
dom, and exchanged the filth and protracted tortures of a prison for 
a watery grave." 

There is reason to believe that many others suffered the same 



3IO . ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

death in Venice, of whose names history makes no mention. Be- 
sides, many died in prison, or of diseases contracted during a tedious 
and unhealthy confinement Among the latter was Jeronimo Galateo, 
who manifested his devotion to the true faith by enduring a severe 
imprisonment of ten years. A large number of persecuted Protest- 
ants escaped to other lands. It would seem that such violent meas- 
ures were sufficient to extirpate the Protestants in Venice, and yet 
we learn that they had secret meetings for worship in the seventeenth 
century, distinct from those which the embassadors of Protestant 
states were permitted to hold. During this period, the same cruelty 
which the Inquisition practiced in the Venetian territories was vis- 
ited upon all who were suspected of heresy throughout Italy. Its 
terrible proceedings in the interior states, whose political and com- 
mercial relations with Protestant countries were not intimate, can be 
ascertained only from incidental references and collateral circumstan- 
ces, since the papal archives are not open to investigation. As for 
Cremona, the Inquisition was worked with remarkable energy and 
success in that city and its territories. The same thing may be said 
of Parma, whose duke entered into a treaty with that violent pontiff, 
Paul IV, by which he surrendered the properties and lives of his 
subjects to the Inquisition. At Faenza, a nobleman of distinguished 
virtues, having fallen under the suspicion of favoring the Lutheran 
doctrine, was thrown into a foul prison, confined for a long time, and 
then put to the torture. The inquisitors, not being able to extort 
from him what they hoped, ordered the operation to be repeated, 
during which the prisoner expired in their hands. The report of this 
barbarous deed spread through the city and excited such a tumult 
that the house of the Inquisition was attacked, its altars and images 
torn down, and some of the priests trodden to death by the enraged 
multitude. 



THE FEARLESS REFORMER. 3 1 1 



Chapter XIX. 

THE CRUELTIES OF THE PAPAL INQUISITION. 

THE existence of a flourishing Protestant Church at Locarno, a 
small city on Lake Maggiore, and within the limits of Italy, 
but under the government of the cantons of Switzerland, was a source 
of regret and annoyance to the pope. Its distance from Rome did 
not exempt it from persecution; but, as it included persons of respect- 
ability and wealth, and as the sovereignty of the city belonged to the 
Swiss cantons, some of which were Protestant, and all of them jeal- 
ous of their authority, the papal court was compelled to proceed 
cautiously in its efforts to suppress the heresy there. Since the dis- 
cussion formerly mentioned, which occurred A. D. 1549, the Roman 
Catholics employed every means to excite prejudice in the minds of 
the people against the Protestants, and to involve them in a quarrel 
with the inhabitants of the surrounding districts and the government 
of Milan. As the Protestants were but a small minority, it was not 
difficult to render their position extremely uncomfortable through the 
annoyance which they suffered from their Roman Catholic neighbors 
under a government which took part with the oppressor against the 
oppressed. Several years of these intestine troubles and persecutions 
passed on, during which the excellent Beccaria, the most earnest 
advocate of the evangelical cause, though dismissed from prison, was 
exposed to such personal danger that he deemed it prudent, by the 
advice of his friends, to banish himself and retire to Chiavenna in 
the Grisons. Taddeo de Dunis was another Protestant whose talents 
and zeal rendered him obnoxious to the court of Rome. His fame 
as a physician extended into the adjacent country, and many desired 
to avail themselves of his medical advice. Believing that he should 
reside in a more central locality, he moved to a place within the 
territory of Milan. When his old antagonist, the priest of Lugano, 
ascertained that he was beyond the jurisdiction of the Swiss Confed- 
eracy, he informed the inquisitor at Milan that the leader of the 
heretics was in Italy, and immediately a party was sent to intercept 
and arrest him on one of his professional journeys; but, being warned 
of his danger, he retreated hastily to the mountains, and escaped. 
Conscious of his innocence, and depending upon the influence of the 



3 1 2 ITAL Y STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

families who employed him, he appeared voluntarily before the inquis- 
itor, and was fortunately dismissed on condition that he would leave 
the territory of Milan and confine his medical practice to his native 
district. 

During four years the Protestants of Locarno, though not sub- 
jected to open violence, were outrageously treated. For some time 
they had not employed the priests to confess their sick and bury 
their dead according to the Romish custom, with torches and the 
cross ; and, Avhen they had no pastor of their own, they brought min- 
isters from Chiavenna to baptize their children. The mercenary 
priesthood, deprived of their gains by the increase of the Protestants, 
denounced them as dangerous innovators, whose conduct was both 
unnatural and sacrilegious. Determined to crush them, the Romish 
clergy circulated the base report that the Protestants were guilty of 
the most licentious practices in their private meetings. The ignorant 
and superstitious multitude believed these rumors, and even some of 
the more intelligent, who knew their falsity, pretended to credit them. 
In the mean time a man named Walther, a native of the popish 
canton of Uri, who was at that time town-clerk of Locarno, and 
who, some years after, was banished for holding a treasonable coitc- 
spondence with the duke of Alva, governor of Milan, concocted a 
deep plot. He forged a deed purporting that the senators, citizens, 
and other inhabitants of the town and bailiwick of Locarno had bound 
themselves, by oath, to the seven papal cantons, that they would 
adhere to the pope and the Roman Catholic religion until the meet- 
ing of a ** General Council." Having dated this paper several years 
back, he sent it as a genuine document to an assembly of the Seven 
Cantons, held in March, A. D. 1554. Without any investigation 
they immediately decreed that all the Locarnese should, in accord- 
ance with their bond, confess to the priests during the ensuing Lent; 
that they should give their names to the superior of the Church, and 
that the rites of burial should be denied to those who had not 
received the mass on their death-beds. 

When this decree was promulgated at Locarno, the Protestants 
were astounded, and they immediately sent a commissioner to the 
Protestant cantons to declare the utter falsehood of the allegation 
upon which the decree proceeded. They were also entreated, as pro- 
fessors of the same faith, and as their joint temporal superiors, to 
strive, by their influence, to avert the ruin which threatened two 
hundred heads of families who had always been faithful in their alle- 
giance, and who had never been accused, except concerning the law 



THE POLICY OF THE PAPAL NUNCIO. 313 

of their God. After hearing this representation the deputies of the 
Protestant cantons assembled at Aran, and wrote to those of the 
popish persuasion, requesting them not to take any further action in 
the Locarno matter until the meeting of the next diet of the confed- 
•eracy. They were also requested not to take any step which would 
infringe the rights of the Protestant cantons in that territory. The 
enemies of the persecuted Locarnese, desiring to defeat this effort in 
their behalf, actively circulated the report through Switzerland that 
they were not entitled to the protection of the Protestant cantons, 
because they were infected with Servetianism, anabaptism, and other 
fanatical opinions. Being apprised of this by their commissioner, 
they sent to Zurich a confession of their faith, in which they avowed 
their agreement wdth the Reformed Churches concerning the Trinity, 
the incarnation, the mediatory work of Christ, justification, and the 
sacraments. This statement of their belief silenced the slander of 
their opponents. Two ** General Diets" for the discussion of this 
subject assembled A. D. 1554, and they unanimously set aside the 
false bond. When they came to the main point, however, the Rom- 
ish party insisted that it should be decided by the majority of votes 
in the diet, contrary to the rule usually observed concerning religious 
questions. 

But the court of Rome, having resolved to adopt a bolder policy, 
sent Riverda, bishop of Terracina, as a papal nuncio to the diet of 
Switzerland, to excite the Romish deputies to violent measures, w^iile 
those of the Protestant cantons w^ere influenced, partly by jealousy 
of one another, and partly by dread of disturbing the peace of the 
confederacy. Riverda desired to secure the passage of a decree 
compelling the Protestants of Locarno to abandon that city. The 
district including it, as well as several other small districts in its 
vicinity, was governed by the Swiss cantons, w^hich, in rotation, sent 
a prefect or governor to this province, who held his office for two 
years. As the Roman Catholic cantons were more numerous than 
the Protestant — though far inferior in population, education, wealth, 
and all other resources — the vote by cantons was certain to be unfa- 
vorable to the cause of the Protestants in Locarno. The question was 
referred at last to arbiters chosen from the two mixed cantons, in 
which the two parties were nearly equally divided. Their decision . 
was what the pope's legate desired; namely, that the inhabitants of 
Locarno, who were free from crime, should either embrace the Roman 
Catholic religion or leave their native land, taking with them their 
families and property; that they should not return thither nor be per- 



3 r 4 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

mitted to settle within the seven CathoHc cantons ; and that those 
who had spoken reproachfully of the Virgin Mary, and were charge- 
able with anabaptism or other opinions contrary to both confessions, 
should be punished. It was determined also that this sentence should 
be intimated to the prefect of Locarno, and carried into effect by 
deputies sent by the seven Catholic cantons if those from the four 
Protestant ones refused to take part in the affair or absented them- 
selves. The deputies of Zurich protested against this decision, 
declaring that, while they would abide by the league and not excite 
any disturbance, they would not consent to have this sentence inti- 
mated in their name, and still less to assist in carrying it into execu- 
tion. Their constituents afterwards sanctioned this protest. At this 
time Locarno was under the government of Isaiah Reuchlin, the 
prefect appointed by the canton of Zurich. The Roman Catholics 
had repeatedly annoyed him in the discharge of his duties, but this 
excellent man was still more perplexed when he was informed that 
the diet had promulgated a decree hostile to the Protestants. In 
this emergency he was relieved by instructions from home to adopt 
a policy in accordance with the protest taken by the deputies of his 
native city. 

The Roman Catholic cantons desired an immediate enforcement 
of their edict, and, fearing that something would occur to prevent it, 
they sent their deputies across the Alps in the depth of Winter. On 
their arrival at Locarno they assembled the people and addressed 
them in a threatening manner, declaring that they justly deserved 
exemplary punishment, because they had been rebellious and intro- 
duced pernicious innovations into the true religion, besides disturbing 
the peace and almost destroying the union of the Helvetic body. 
The deputies announced to them, however, that the diet had gener- 
ously pardoned their past faults and had enacted a law for the 
regulation of their future conduct. The decree was then read and 
immediately ratified by the subscriptions of the municipal authorities. 
As the inhabitants were divided in sentiment, they were allowed 
another day in which to prepare an answer. On the following morn- 
ing those who had decided to adhere to the papal Church appeared 
before the deputies, and, imploring pardon for whatever was offensive 
in their past conduct, promised entire submission and conformity to 
the laws for the future. In the afternoon the Protestants, marching 
in regular order, two men, followed by their wives, walking abreast, 
the women carrying their infants in their arms, the men leading their 
children, and those highest in rank taking the lead, proceeded to the 



THE PROTESTANTS OF LOCARNO INVINCIBLE. 315 

council-room, and the deputies, instead of receiving them with that 
respect and sympathy to which their appearance and prospects 
entitled them, treated them with levity. One of the Protestants, in 
the name of his brethren, addressed the deputies, stating that, as 
they had been accused of believing novel doctrines and dangerous 
opinions, he humbly desired to express their real views. 

The speaker then made a full statement of their faith, declaring 
it to be the same as that prefigured under the Old Testament, and 
more clearly revealed by Christ and his apostles ; and, that after care- 
fully searching the Bible, with prayer for the illumination of the 
Holy Spirit, they had accepted the doctrine summarily contained in 
the Apostle's Creed, and rejected all human traditions contrary to the 
Word of God. He also asserted that they disclaimed Novatianism 
and all novel opinions, and abhorred every thing that would produce 
hcentiousness of manners, as they had often protested to the seven 
papal and four Protestant cantons ; and moreover, that, trusting in 
the Lord, they were ready to endure any suffering rather than stir 
up strife, or be the occasion of war in the confederacy. He then 
referred to the fact that they had always maintained inviolate their 
allegiance to the confederate cantons, and were willing to shed their 
blood and spend their treasure in their defense. In conclusion, he 
made an appeal, in behalf of his fellow-Protestants, to the mercy and 
generosity of the lords of the seven cantons, beseeching them, in the 
name of Jesus Christ, to have compassion on such a large number 
of persons, including delicate females and helpless infants, who, if 
driven from their native land, would suffer great privations. He 
requested the deputies, whatever action they might take, to insti- 
tute a rigid investigation into the crimes with which the Protest- 
ants had been charged, and that, if any of them were found guilty, 
they should be punished according to their demerit, with the utmost 
severity. 

The deputies, with hearts as obdurate as the Alps, which they 
had recently crossed, replied to this magnanimous and touching 
appeal, saying: "We are not come here to listen to your faith. 
The lords of the seven cantons have, by the deed now made known 
to you, declared what their religion is, and they will not suffer it to 
be called in question or disputed. Say, in one word, are you ready 
to quit your faith or are you not?" To this the Protestants, with one 
voice, replied: **We will live in it, we will die in it;" while the 
exclamations, "We will never renounce it;" "It is the only true 
faith;" "It is the only holy faith;" "It is the only saving faith," 



3l6 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

continued for a considerable time to resound from different parts of 
the assembly, like the reverberations that follow the loud peal in a 
thunder-storm. Before leaving the room, each of them was required 
to give his or her name to the clerk, and two hundred persons imme- 
diately came forward, rejoicing in having the privilege of enrolling 
themselves as confessors of "the truth as it is in Jesus." 

The deputies having sternly refused to allow the Protestants 
to remain until the severity of Winter was over, the latter made 
preparations for an immediate departure, and sent Taddeo de Dunis 
before them to request an asylum from the magistrates of Zurich. 
But greater trials awaited them. The infamous Riverda, the papal 
nuncio, following up his success at the diet of Switzerland, came to 
Locarno to secure a literal enforcement of the decree. At a meet- 
ing of the deputies, he thanked them, in the pope's name, for their 
defense of the Roman Catholic faith, anc^ urged them to compel the 
Grison league to deliver up the fugitive preacher, Beccaria, that he 
might be punished for the daring crime of corrupting the faith of 
his countrymen. Riverda's second request was, that the Locarnese 
emigrants should not be permitted to take with them their children 
and property, but that the former should be retained and educated in 
the Roman Catholic Church, and the latter forfeited. The deputies 
readily consented to the first proposition, but desired to be excused 
from officially indorsing the second, because their instructions did not 
warrant such extreme measures. They urged Riverda, however, to 
invest the priests of Locarno with authority to receive such Protest- 
ants as might be persuaded to return to the bosom of the ''Mother 
Church." The papal nuncio not only granted this power, but also 
offered his own services and those of two Dominican doctors of 
theology, whom he had brought along with him to convince the 
deluded heretics. The faithful followers of Christ, though compelled 
to hear the unprofitable harangues of monks, and to hold conferences 
with Riverda, submitted to the arrangement without opposition, but 
not a single convert was made to Romanism. 

There were three prominent ladies — Catarina Rosalina, Lucia di 
Orello, and Barbara di Montalto, all devoted Protestants, whom the 
papal nuncio earnestly desired to bring under Romish influence, but 
in his controversy with them his arguments were promptly and effect- 
ually answered. His female antagonists so fully exposed the idolatry 
and abuses of the Romish Church, that his eminence was mortified 
and irritated. By the boldness and keenness of her replies and the 
severity of her retorts Barbara di Montalto, the wife of the principal 



NICOLAS, THE MARTYR. 317 

physician of the place, greatly provoked him and incurred his resent- 
ment. He therefore determined to have her arrested, and persuaded 
the deputies to issue an order charging her ^vith uttering blasphe- 
mous sentiments against the sacrifice of the mass. The house of her 
husband had been built as a place of defense on the banks of Lake 
Maggiore, during the violent feuds which prevailed between the 
Guelfs and Ghibellines, and in it was a concealed door which required 
six men to move it. At the place where it opened upon the water, 
a boat was kept in waiting, when a sudden alarm was given, to con- 
vey the inmates of the house to a safe locality. Her husband had 
an alarming dream which led him to apprehend danger, not to his 
w^ife indeed, but to himself. Hence, on that night, he ordered the 
servants to open that door. At an early hour on the next morning 
the officers entered the house, and, bursting into the room where the 
lady was dressing herself, presented a warrant from the deputies to 
take her to prison. With great presence of mind she entreated 
them, with an air of feminine delicacy, to allow her to retire for a 
moment to an adjoining apartment for the purpose of putting on 
some article of clothing. This request being granted, she hastily 
descended the stairs, and, leaping into the boat, was rowed off in 
safety before the eyes of her enemies, who were assembled in the 
court-room to receive her. 

Riverda and the deputies, enraged at this disappointment, wreaked 
their vengeance upon the husband of the lady, whom they deprived 
of all his property. Not satisfied with this act of robbery, they 
compelled two members of the Reformed Church to pay large sums 
of money, because they refused to have their children baptized 
according to the popish ritual. But a, poor tradesman, named 
Nicolas, suffered the severest punishment. In conversing with some 
of his neighbors, he used certain expressions, which were considered 
disrespectful to the Virgin Mary, in honor of whom a celebrated 
chapel had been erected and called Madonna del Sasso. As this 
sacred shrine was in the vicinity of Locarno, the priests of that city 
were deeply incensed against Nicolas, and, to silence their clamors, 
the prefect Reuchlin had punished his imprudence by condemning 
him to an imprisonment of sixteen weeks. He was brought a second 
time to trial, and, after being put to the torture, had the sentence of 
death passed upon him. The Roman Catholic citizens interceded in 
his behalf, but the deputies were unrelenting, and the order was 
executed. 

The Protestants had selected the third day of March, A. D. 1555, 



3 1 8 ITAL V 577? UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

as the day of their departure for Switzerland and, though they loved 
their native city, they anticipated with joy the hour which would wit- 
ness the commencement of their journey. But before they started 
the priests persuaded the government of Milan to issue an edict pro- 
hibiting the Locarnese exiles from remaining more than three days 
within the Milanese territory under pain of death, and imposing a 
fine on those who should afford them any assistance or enter into 
conversation with them on any religious subject. As they could not 
pass through the territory of Milan to the easiest passage across the 
Alps, they were compelled to take a north-eastern route, sailing to 
the northern point of Lake Maggiore, thence to the Helvetian bal- 
liages by way of Bellinzone, until they reached Rogoreto, a town 
subject to the Grison league. At this point the Alps presented an 
impassable barrier of ice and snow, compelling them to take up 
their Winter- quarters ; and, in view of their numbers, their sojourn 
among strangers was necessarily attended with many inconveniences. 
After remaining there two months, they started, the May thaw hav- 
ing opened a passage for them, and soon arrived at the canton of the 
Grisons, where they received a joyful welcome from brethren of the 
same faith. Almost the half of their number accepted the invitation 
of the magistrates to become permanent citizens of that mountainous 
but to them happy republic. The remainder, amounting to one 
hundred and thirty three, went forward as the Summer advanced to 
Zurich, whose inhabitants came out to meet them at their approach, 
and extended such a kind and fraternal welcome that the hearts of 
the sad and weary exiles were revived and consoled. 

If a plague had been removed from the city the inhabitants of 
Locarno could not have been more rejoiced than they were at the 
banishment of these Protestant families ; but their exultation was of 
short duration. The most peaceable and industrious of their citizens 
had moved away. Trade declined, and with it the prosperity of the 
community. During the succeeding year their lands were laid waste 
by a violent tempest, and this was followed by a destructive pestilence. 
To fill up the cup of their calamity and misery, intestine commotions 
and feuds arrayed the people in hostile parties, by which the peace 
of the city was disturbed. The two powerful families of the Buchi- 
achi and Rinaldi, who had formed a league against the Protestants, 
were soon striving for the superiority of the neighboring village of 
Brisago, rendered vacant by the expulsion of the Orelli, and to 
enforce their claims these competitors raised bands of armed men, 
attacked each other, and committed such depredations on the peace- 



THE LUCCHESE PROTESTANTS LMPRISONED. 319 

able citizens that the Swiss government was compelled to maintain, 
at great expense, a garrison in Locarno. 

While the fate of the Locarnese Protestants was hard, yet when 
compared with that of their brethren in the interior of Italy it was 
mild. The latter had no friendly power to protect them from the 
vengeance of the Inquisition, and no convenient asylum to which 
they could flee when their own governments refused to shelter them. 
As it was impossible for them to retire in a body they were com- 
pelled to fly singly; and when they ventured to return, for the pur- 
pose of removing their families or recovering their property, they 
were often seized by the inquisitors and cast into the same prisons 
with their brethren whom they had left behind. It is not strange 
that so many recanted when we consider the perils and hardships to 
which they were exposed by professing the truth. Still greater 
numbers outwardly favored the Romish form of worship, though 
they inwardly detested it as superstitious and idolatrous, because 
they desired either to avoid or allay suspicion. This was the condi- 
tion of affairs at Lucca. The Protestants in that republic became 
secure, and commenced to boast of their superior courage in main- 
taining their ground, while many of their brethren had abandoned it 
through cowardice, and permitted the banner of truth, which had 
been unfurled in different parts of Italy, to fall to the ground. They 
disliked to leave their native land and to relinquish their possessions 
and honors. Trusting in their numbers and influence, they appre- 
hended no danger from the open opposition of the Romish Church ; 
but had they known how actively its agents had for many years 
worked secretly in their private meetings they would have been less 
confident. Their bright hopes, which had been inspired by self- 
confidence and false security, were soon to be dissipated. Soon after 
the accession of Paul IV to the papal throne the Lucchese conventi- 
cle was ordered to be suppressed, and in accordance with a precon- 
certed plan its principal members were in one day cast into the 
dungeons of the Inquisition. At the sight of the instruments of 
torture some, who had been the most courageous, were glad to 
escape from the dreadful persecutions of the papal power by pre- 
tending to accept its teachings. They could scarcely apologize for 
the flight of Peter Martyr, whose example they had refused to follow- 
when it was in their power, but now he reminds them of their own 
timidity, expressing his sorrow at the overthrow of a Church in 
which he was deeply interested, and at the sudden recantation and 
defection of so many persons whom he had warmly praised. 



3 20 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

In a letter which Martyr addressed to them on this occasion he 
says: "How can I refrain from lamentations when I think that such 
a pleasant garden, as the Reformed Church at Lucca presented to 
the view, has been so completely laid waste by the cruel tempest as 
scarcely to retain a vestige of its former cultivation. Those who did 
not know you might have entertained fears that you would not be 
able to resist the storm ; it never could have entered into my mind that 
you would fall so foully. After the knowledge you had of the fury 
of Antichrist, and of the danger which hung over your heads when 
you did not choose to retire, by availing yourselves of w4iat some 
call the common remedy of the weak, but which in certain circum- 
stances I deem a wise precaution, your friends were disposed to say^ 
* These tried and brave soldiers of Christ will not fly, because they 
are determined by their martyrdom and blood to open the way for 
the progress of the Gospel in their native country, emulating the 
noble examples which are given every day by their brethren in 
France, Belgium, and England,' Ah, how much have these hopes 
been disappointed ! What matter of boasting has been given to our 
antichristian oppressors ! But this confounding catastrophe is to be 
deplored with tears rather than words." 

These severities did not entirely suppress the evangelical reform in 
Lucca, but they caused some of the best families in that city to transfer 
themselves and their wealth to Switzerland and France, with the view 
of exercising freedom of opinion and action in religious matters. 
Many of them reached Geneva, A. D. 1556, where their descendants 
are to be found at this day, including the Micheli, Turretini, Calen- 
drini, Balbani, Diodati, Burlamacchi, and Minutoli, some of whom 
have attained great distinction in both Church and state in that 
ancient commonwealth. The authorities of Lucca were so enraged 
at their departure that they offered a reward of three hundred crowns 
to any person who would kill one of them in Italy, France, and 
Flanders ! The council of Geneva wrote to Lucca, requesting the 
authorities to revoke this barbarous proclamation, but they refused to 
do so. The only effect which it produced was to keep the refugees 
in a state of constant alarm for their safety. The Romish writers 
complained, A. D. 1562, that the heretics in Lucca maintained a 
regular correspondence with their countrymen in foreign countries, 
and procured Protestant books from merchants who came from Lyons 
and Geneva. More families from Lucca arrived at Geneva A. D. 1556, 
and in the following year the authorities of Lucca passed a severe 
ordinance, prohibiting all intercourse by speech or letters with those 



THE REPLY TO S PINO LA. 321 

who had been denounced as ''rebels for the cause of rehgion." 
Among the persons named in this ordinance as rebels is "Messer 
Simoni Somone, Medico." This ingenious but versatile man resided 
at Geneva, Heidelberg, Leipsic, Prague, and Cracow ; and Was as 
unsettled in his religious creed as in his place of residence, having 
been successively a Calvinist, Lutheran, Arian, Jesuit, and (if we 
may believe his countryman, Squarcialupo) atheist. 

The refugees from Lucca were not forgotten in the land of their 
fathers, as win appear from a curious circumstance which occurred 
more than one hundred years after the first exiles reached Geneva. 
Cardinal Spinola, then bishop of Lucca, addressed a letter, A. D. 
1679, to the descendants of these Lucchese Protestants, in which he 
expressed his paternal solicitude for the diocese over' which Inno- 
cent XI had placed him. He stated that he had learned with sorrow 
that during the dissensions of the past century multitudes, remarka- 
ble for their nobility and intelligence, had abandoned a city in which 
they occupied the highest offices, and had gone to Geneva. The 
bishop further declared that his affection for the descendants of these 
illustrious men would not permit him to rest until he had invited 
them to return to the bosom of the ** Mother Church;" that he had 
ordered a public supplication in their behalf throughout the whole 
of his diocese, and hoped they would realize how glorious and how 
essential to their safety it would be to obey God by returning to the 
only sanctuary of truth. After reading the cardinal's letter the 
refugees at first concluded not to reply, because they might be com- 
pelled by convictions of duty to write unpleasant things to a prelate 
who had complimented their ancestors in such flattering terms. 
There were other considerations, however, that made it necessary for 
them to proclaim to the world their real sentiments. They had 
learned that at this time the Roman Catholic powers were united in 
their efforts to proselyte Protestants, that reports of their own incon- 
stancy had been circulated abroad, and that Cardinal Spinola had 
actually applied to the pope for their absolution. In view of these 
facts the refugees sent him a respectful and able answer, which was 
written by the pastors Burlamacchi and Turretini, worthy grandsons 
of those noble sires who had forsaken Italy for Christ. After giving 
a sketch of the progress which the Protestant religion had made at 
Lucca in the preceding century, they examined the propositions 
contained in the cardinal's letter, and pronounced them inadmissible. 
In closing their reply to him they made an earnest and affectionate 
appeal to their ''kinsmen according to the flesh," who were still 



322 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

gro]")ing in the darkness of popish Lucca. When the cardinal re- 
ceived this answer he sent one copy of it to the pope, and another 
to the "Congregation of the Holy Office," who ordered the execu- 
tioners to burn all the copies which came into Italy. 

At Mantua, also, the inquisitors boldly prosecuted their mission 
of extirpating heresy. The severity of the persecution in this duchy 
is indicated by two facts. Guglielmo, the reigning duke, A. D. 1566, 
was a man of humane feelings, respecting the rights of his subjects 
as well as his own authority. He deeply offended the pope by refus- 
ing to send to Rome for trial certain persons suspected of heresy. 
Full of indignation, Pius V not only threatened him with excommun- 
ication, but war also, declaring that he had made Mantua a "nest 
of heretics. " He would have executed his threats had it not been 
for the interference of the princes of Italy, who persuaded him to 
pardon the duke on his submission. Two years after, the chief in- 
quisitor seized a friend of the duke, on suspicion of heresy, and cast 
him into prison. The duke commanded him to be released ; but the 
haughty monk refused, saying that while he acknowledged him as his 
temporal lord, yet, in the present case, he was the pope's agent, and 
his power was paramount to that of any secular prince. Some days 
after the duke sent a second message, urging his former request, 
when the arrogant inquisitor, holding out the keys of the dungeon, 
insolently informed the messengers that they might release the pris- 
oner at their peril. , 

In no part of Italy did persecution rage more violently than in 
the duchy of Milan, especially after it fell into the hands of Philip, 
king of Spain. Galeazzo Trezio, a young nobleman of Lodi, had 
embraced the doctrines of the Reformation from Maynardi, an Au- 
gustinian monk, while attending the university of Pavia, and was 
afterwards confirmed in the truth by the instructions of Curio. Find- 
ing him guilty of heresy, the Inquisition, A. D. 155 1, sentenced him 
to be burned alive, a punishment which he endured with the great- 
est fortitude. But the persecution became more cruel and dreadful 
when the duke af Alva was made governor. Two persons were com- 
mitted alive to the flames, A. D. 1558. One of them, a monk, was 
forced by an attending priest into a sort of pulpit placed near the 
stake, in order that he might make his recantation ; but, instead of 
doing this, he used the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel with 
boldness, and, while thus engaged was driven into the fire with blows 
and curses. During the following year scarcely a week passed with- 
out some one being compelled to suffer as a heretic, and eleven per- 



THE REIGN OF TERROR AT FLORENCE. 323 

sons of rank were thrown into prison, A. D. 1563, because the\^ 
sympathized with the reform movement. The execution of a young 
priest, A. D. 1569, was an event of pecuHar barbarity. He was 
condemned to be hanged and dragged to the gibbet, to suffer that 
penalty, at a horse's tail. The last part of the sentence was dispensed 
with at the earnest intercession of his friends ; but, after being half 
strangled, he was cut down, and, refusing to recant, was literally 
roasted to death, and his body thrown to the dogs. 

The spirit of persecution early manifested itself within the terri- 
tories of Tuscany. A law was proclaimed at Florence, A. D. 1547, 
calling upon all who had heretical books, particularly those of Ochino 
and Martyr, to deliver them up within fifteen days, under a penalty 
of a hundred ducats and ten years' confinement in the galleys. The 
houses of those who were suspected of having them were searched 
at the expiration of the fifteen days, and the publication of any more 
prohibited under heavy penalties. After the establishment of the 
Inquisition more decisive measures were adopted by the "Commis- 
sioners of the Holy Office," the vicar of the archbishop, the provost 
of the metropolitan Church, and the spadalingo, or director of the 
hospital of Sante Maria Nuova. An auto-da-fe was celebrated in the 
city of Florence, in December, A. D. 1554, in which twenty-five 
persons walked in procession as penitents, among whom was Bartol- 
ommeo Panchiarichi, a wealthy citizen, and former embassador to 
France. They were clothed in caps and cloaks painted with crosses 
and devils, and were publicly reconciled in the cathedral church, 
while the heretical books found in their possession were burned in 
the piazza. 

A native of Piacenza, who visited Florence, A. D. 1547, dedi- 
cated to the duke a translation of Xenophon. The record, which ia 
still preserved, says that ''Ludovico Domenichi, a learned man of 
about thirty years of age, had translated the Nicodemiana of Calvin 
from Latin into Italian, corrected and published the dishonest book 
in Florence, not at Basle, as it falsely pretended, on which account 
he was suspected of heresy, though he strongly denied having ever 
held any dangerous opinions: that he should therefore abjure as one 
violently suspected, having a copy of the book translated by him 
hung from his neck, and be afterwards condemned to the galleys for 
ten years, less or mt)re, for transgressing the laws which regulated 
the press." These severities were increased at a subsequent period, 
when Pius V altered the constitution of the Inquisition in Tuscany, 

by dispensing with the commissaries of the state, under the pretext 

22 



3 24 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

that the secrets of this tribunal should not be divulged to a number 
of persons, and assigning the whole work to one inquisitor. This 
change was considered by the pontiff more simple, convenient, and 
satisfactory, but it excited terror and discontent in the city. 

The appointment of one individual to conduct trials for heresy was 
simply transferring the power to the congregation at Rome, and this 
despotic act, together with the facility with which Cosmo dehvered 
up to the pope the excellent Carnesecchi, whose fate will hereafter be 
recorded, alarmed the people. Many fled, and others were sent to 
Rome. The inquisitor was anxious to display his power, and render 
himself popular by his activity. He annoyed the inhabitants inces- 
santly, by interrogating the ignorant on the deepest mysteries of 
religion, and then accusing them of heresy, because they used ex- 
pressions which were ambiguous. A remonstrance against the con- 
duct of the inquisitor was sent to the pope, A. D. 1567, by the 
regent, who insisted that the archbishop and nuncio should also be 
consulted in the trials of heretics; but this request was not granted. 
The pope, however, removed the inquisitor, and appointed one who 
was less ignorant and indiscreet. The result of this proscriptive pol- 
icy was that Florence, so long renowned for its literature, its science, 
and its refinement, was avoided by foreigners, and ceased to be the 
resort of enlightened men from all parts of the world. Visitors from 
Germany and Switzerland were suspected of disseminating heretical 
opinions in Italy, and, unless they had good testimonials, were ex- 
posed to a rigorous examination and surveillance. 

These proceedings drove many persons distinguished for their 
rank and talents from Tuscany into foreign countries. Among these 
we may mention Michael Angelo Florio, a popular preacher in his 
own country, subsequently pastor of a Protestant Church among the 
Orisons, and afterwards at London, and celebrated as the author of a 
rare and curious book, including a life of the unfortunate and accom- 
plished Lady Jane Grey ; Nardi, so eminent in Italian literature ; 
Pietro Gelido, a native of Samminiato, an ecclesiastic of great learn- 
ing, educated at the court of Clement VII, and finally a resident of 
Florence. He had served the duke as secretary at the court of 
France, and acted as his agent in Venice from A. D. 1552 to A. D. 
1562, during which period he reflected honor both on his prince and 
the republic by the faithful discharge of duty. -• During his visits to 
Ferrara he had imbibed the Protestant doctrines, and greatly offended 
the Romish clergy, not only by the intercourse which he held Avith 
the Germans, but also by the protection which he extended to those 



ANTONIO ALBIZIO—THE SOCCINI OF SIENNA. 325 

who were suspected of heresy. This opposition induced him to retire 
to France, and to take up his abode with the Duchess Renee, of 
Ferrara. But he was not permitted to enjoy this retirement. A spy 
of his former master falsely accused him to the Florentines, who 
surrounded the court of Catherine, and he was compelled to retreat 
to Geneva, where he united with the Italian congregation, already 
organized in that city. From that place he addressed a letter to 
Cosmo, defending his own conduct, and urging the duke to use his 
influence with the pope to convene a council in the heart of Germany, 
and to attend it in person. The example of Gelido was followed at 
a later period by Antonio Albizio, who belonged to one of the no- 
blest families in Tuscany. He was the founder of the academ}' of 
Alterati, at Florence, and * had been sent by the Grand Duke as 
embassador to the Emperor Maximilian II ; but having become 
acquainted with the truth by reading the Bible, he voluntarily sacri- 
ficed his honors and retired to Kempten, in Suabia, where he divided 
his time between devotional exercises and literary studies until his 
death, A. D. 1626. His friends endeavored to win him back to the 
Romish Church, but were not successful; and his process was going 
on before the Inquisition at Rome when he died. 

At Sienna, which about this time was annexed to the duchy of 
Tuscany, similar proceedings occurred. During a number of years 
after the discovery of the defection of Ochino, the Soccini, and Pale- 
ario from the Romish faith, the inquisitors alarmed the government 
by circulating reports of the spread of heresy in the city and territo- 
ries of Sienna. The bishop of Bologna was sent, A. D. 1560, to con- 
duct a process against Cornelio Soccini, who was accused of having 
adopted the peculiar opinions of his relation, Faustus Socinus. All 
that he confessed during the examination was, that he believed every 
thing contained in the Bible. As this was not entirely satisfactory, 
he was, with the consent of the duke, transferred to Rome. The 
persecution became severer, A. D. 1567; many fled, others were sub- 
jected to trial on the spot, and not a few were delivered up to the 
*'Holy Oflice" at Rome. 

The Spanish government endeavored for several years to Intro- 
duce the Inquisition as it existed in Spain into Naples, but was 
compelled to yield to the repugnance of the people, apparently sus- 
tained by the pope. The dissensions which characterized the discus- 
sion of this question for some time saved the Protestants from open 
persecution. Lorenzo Romano, a native of Sicily, had, at a former 
period instilled the doctrine of Zwingle Into the minds of many of 



326 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

the inhabitants of Caserta, a town lying about fifteen miles north of 
Naples. Having visited Germany, where he was more fully instructed 
in the truth, he returned to Italy A. D. 1549, and opened a class in 
logic, to the members of which he preached the Gospel. The Rom- 
ish clergy were informed of his course, and proceeded to arraign him 
before the Inquisition. Romano, not possessing the firmness of a 
martyr, was- alarmed at the danger which threatened him, and sought 
an interview wdth the Theatine cardinal. He not only recanted by 
confessing his own errors, but also betrayed many of the most dis- 
tinguished of his brethren by giving the names of all, male and 
female, who professed the Protestant faith both in the capital and in 
other parts of the kingdom. After abjuring his opinions publicly in 
the cathedral churches of Naples and Caserta, and enduring certain 
other penances at Rome, he obtained his liberty. Acting upon 
Romano's information, the pope sent inquisitors to find the heretics. 
INIany were thrown into prison, and not a few were carried to Rome 
to undergo death by being burned. These severities continued 
several years and produced great distress. Two noblemen, Giovan 
Francesco d'Alois, of Caserta, and Gio\^anni Bernardino di Gargano, 
of Aversa, having been convicted of heresy, were beheaded in the 
market-place on the twenty-fourth of March, A. D. 1564, and their 
bodies consumed to ashes in the sight of the people. 

The prosecutions for heresy, and the dread of the inhabitants in 
anticipation of the introduction of the Inquisition, seriously affected 
the interests both of trade and literature. In the city of Naples whole 
streets were deserted by the people. The academies of the Sireni, 
Ardenti, and Incogniti, which had been recently erected for the cul- 
tivation of poetry, rhetoric, and astronomy, were closed by the viceroy 
under the pretext that the merpbers neglected to study the branches 
of secular learning, and devoted their attention to the discussion of 
the Bible. Besides this violence, already mentioned, two things con- 
tributed to the overthrow of the Protestant cause in Naples. The 
first was the efforts of certain adherents of Anabaptism and. Arianism, 
who entered the secret meetings of the Protestants and made disciples 
to their peculiar doctrines. The spirit of speculation diverted men's 
minds from the simple Gospel, and when the true source of spiritual 
life is abandoned, sooner or later, even the form of religion will dis- 
appear. The second thing which assisted in the ruin of the reform 
movement was the practice indulged by some of attending Romish 
worship, partaking of mass and conducting themselves publicly in 
every respect as if they were Roman Catholics. 



CO WARDL V NEAPOLITAN PROTESTANTS. 327 

Some writers called these individuals Valdesians, because they 
justified their conduct by appealing to the example of Valdez, and 
to the advice which he gave those whom he had instructed in the 
doctrine of justification, but whose minds w^ere yet fettered by preju- 
dices in favor of the Romish Church and the ancient ceremonies. As 
the persecution increased this practice became more general, and was 
not only offensive to those conscientious persons who shunned Rom- 
ish worship as idolatrous, but gradually eradicated from the minds 
of those who conformed to it the impressions of that faith which they 
had embraced, and prepared them to abandon it on the slightest 
temptation. The course pursued by this "class destroyed all true 
decision of character, all courage in the cause and service of Christ, 
and all proper sensibility of conscience. Even many of these, being 
suspected of believing the evangelical doctrines, were arrested, and had 
to purchase their lives by denying their convictions. Others had 
incurred the hatred of the inquisitors or the jealousy of informers, 
and were arrested a second time and subjected to tortures and a cruel 
death as relapsed heretics. To avoid these persecutions, or actuated 
by a desire to enjoy the pure worship of God, many of the Protest- 
ants started to make their homes in other countries, and, while some 
of them certainly persevered in the determination to abandon forever 
their native land, others, it is said, upon reaching the Alps, looked 
back from their summits to take a last view of their beloved Italy, 
and, beholding its beauties, and recalling the friends and comforts 
they were forsaking, burst into tears and had not the courage to pro- 
ceed. Like Lot's wife, they turned back, and most of them, soon 
after their return to Naples, were thrust into prison, and, haying 
submitted to do penance, spent the remainder of their lives, shunned 
by all good men, and rendered miserable by a feeling of remorse and 
self-degradation. 

When the Protestant cause had been suppressed in the capital, 
the Neapolitan government allowed the inquisitors to roam through 
the country like wild beasts unrestrained, and to devour its innocent 
citizens. While the Romish hierarchy was guilty at this period of 
many barbarous crimes, none was more atrocious than that committed 
against the descendants of the ancient Waldenses. It seemed as if 
the papal authorities were determined to exceed the cruelties which 
Simon de Montfort, of bloody memory, inflicted during the Dark 
Ages upon the ancestors of that people under the holy banners of 
the Church. As we have already stated,' this Waldensian colony in 
Calabria Citeriore was planted in the fourteenth century by emigrants 



328 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

chiefly from the Valley of Pragela, in Piedmont. They brought with 
them little except the simple piety which their fathers had maintained 
from the primitive ages of Christianity. They asked for lands in 
Calabria and obtained them in the neighborhood of Consenza. For 
two hundred years they cultivated the ground in peace and lived on 
good terms with their Roman Catholic neighbors. At first the priest 
annoyed them because they neither came to the mass nor to the 
confessional, but held their own meetings in private houses. But 
the proprietors of the lands upon which" they had settled, finding 
them peaceable and industrious tenants, and punctual in paying their 
rents, protected them from molestation. Even the priests were com- 
pelled to admit that these excellent people were exemplary in render- 
ing the tithes and in meeting all the other claims of the Church. 

In the course of time, however, they lost to some extent the 
abhorrence of the doctrines and services of the Roman Catholic 
Church Avhich their fathers entertained, for, at the commencement 
of the Reformation in Germany and Switzerland, they were in the 
habit of attending mass in the Romish churches. Cut off from inter- 
course with their brethren of the same faith, and destitute of the 
means of education for their pastors, this simple people, though not 
relinquishing their own forms of worship, gradually conformed to the 
Romish ceremonies, and were thus enabled to maintain friendly rela- 
tions with the original inhabitants. As they had few schools, and 
no facilities for educating their pastors, they had to look for ministers 
of the Gospel to the Churches which held the same faith in the val- 
leys of Piedmont. But at that time it was dangerous for Waldensian 
teachers to travel from their homes to Calabria, and therefore the 
Churches of that community were frequently, and for considerable 
periods, very poorly supplied with pastors. Indeed, they were some- 
times entirely destitute of spiritual leaders. 

Having heard of the progress of a religion In other parts of Italy, 
strongly resembling that of their fathers, the curiosity of the Cala- 
brian Waldenses was awakened, and they eagerly desired to become 
acquainted with It. Feeling the need of more ministers of the Gos- 
pel, and conscious of their past error in conforming to the Romish 
worship, they applied to their brethren in the valleys of Pragela and 
to the ministers of Geneva to procure pastors who should Instruct 
them more fully and organize their Churches on a Scriptural basis. 
Their application was not In vain. Devoted missionaries came, and 
by diligent preaching and catechising revived the spirit of true piety, 
and promoted the knowledge of the trutli, not only among the Cala- 



PAPAL DELEGA TION A T SANTO SISTO. 329 

brian Waldenses, but also among the few who had embraced it in the 
neighboring towns in the province of Basilicata. Great success 
attended their efforts. But at length Rome was aroused, like a 
lioness greedy for the prey. Her emissaries, the iniquisitors, while 
searching for victims in every part of Italy, did not pass by the vil- 
lages occupied by these inoffensive people. These cruel agents of the 
Vatican had already tasted blood, and were accustomed to behold the 
most distressing scenes. When the Sacred College ascertained that 
Protestant ministers had been sent from Geneva to the Waldenses in 
Calabria, the inquisitor-general and two Dominican monks, Valerio 
Malvicino and Alfonso Urbino, were appointed to reduce the her- 
etical Churches to the obedience of the Papal See, or entirely sup- 
press them. This delegation, which has won for itself an imperish- 
able infamy, started with alacrity from the ''Eternal City" on the 
bloody errand. On their first arrival at Santo Sisto, or San Sexto, 
the monks were gentle and kind in their manners. Having assem- 
bled the inhabitants, they assured them that no harm was intended, 
if they would only dismiss their Lutheran teachers and come to mass. 
After disclaiming any design to injure the people, these representa- 
tives of the Inquisition declared that they were sent as friends to warn 
them against false prophets who had led them away from the truth, 
and, that if they would consent to listen only to those who were 
appointed by their ordinary, and live according to the rules of the 
Roman Catholic Church, all would be well, but that, if they refused, 
they would be in danger of losing then- lives and property, the pun- 
ishment inflicted upon heretics. 

The visiting monks then appointed a time for the celebration 
of mass, which they required all present to attend. The bell was 
rung, but the citizens, instead of complying with the injunction by 
attending the service, left the town in a body, and retired to a neigh- 
boring wood. Such was the result of the first movement to persuade 
the W^aldenses of San Sexto, one of the two chief places occupied 
by that people. Concealing their chagrin, the monks immediately 
went to La Guardia, the other prominent Waldensian town, situated 
on the seashore, and, after entering it, locked the gates behind them 
to prevent a second flight. Assembling the inhabitants, who had not 
yet heard of the proceedings at San Sexto, they told them that their 
brethren there had renounced their erroneous opinions and dutifully 
attended mass, at the same time exhorting them to imitate their wise 
and good example and return to the fold of the Roman shepherd. 
The poor people, taken unawares, credited the report of the monks, 



^T^O ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

and, Intimidated by the probable consequences of refusal, went to the 
Romish church and partook of the mass; but no sooner was the 
ceremony ended, and the gates of the town opened, than they learned 
the deception which had been practiced upon them. Indignant, and 
also ashamed of their own weakness, they resolved instantly to leave 
the place with their wives and children and join their brethren, who 
had taken refuge in the woods — a resolution from which they were 
with difficulty diverted by the persuasion and promises of Salvator 
Spinello, the feudatory superior of the town. 

The inquisitor-general, Alexandrini, now made request for two 
companies of men-at-arms to enable him to execute his mission. 
The soldiers were sent to him, and he directed them to the woods, 
with instructions to pursue and murder the inhabitants of San Sexto. 
Tracking them like beasts of prey to their hiding-places in the thick- 
ets and the caves of the mountains, they fell upon them with cries of 
'' Aviazzi! ainazzi! Murder them! murder them!" Many of them 
were slain on the spot ; others, who escaped, were pursued with 
blood-hounds as if they had been wild beasts. Some of these fugi- 
tives scaled the craggy summits of the Apennines. Having secured 
themselves among the rocks, they demanded an interview with the cap- 
tain of the soldiers. After beseeching him to have compassion on 
them, their wives, and children, they said that they and their fathers 
had inhabited that country for several ages without any complaint con- 
cerning their conduct ; that if they could not be permitted to remain in 
it any longer without renouncing their faith, they hoped to be allowed 
the privilege of retiring to som.e other country. They expressed a 
willingness to go by sea or land to any place which their superiors 
might select ; promised not to return ; and solemnly declared that 
they would take no more with them than what was necessary for their 
support on the journey, as they were ready to sacrifice their prop- 
erty rather than violate their consciences by practicing idolatry. 
They implored him to withdraw his men, to spare the effusion of 
blood, and not compel them reluctantly to defend themselves, as, in 
their desperation, they might resort to extreme measures. Instead 
of listening to this reasonable offer, and reporting it to his superiors, 
the captain ordered his men to advance by a defile, and when they 
had reached a certain point, the Waldenses, stationed on the sum- 
mits, hurled down the stones upon them, killing the greater part and 
putting the rest to flight. 

Alexandrini, the inquisitor -general, resolved to avenge on the 
whole body this unpremeditated act of resistance on the part of the 



THE WALDENSES EXTERMINA TED. 3 3 1 

few. He wrote to Naples, stating that the country was In a tumult, 
resulting from the rebellion of the Vaudois, and asking for more 
troops to suppress it. On the arrival of the messenger, the viceroy 
dispatched several companies of soldiers to Calabria. To gratify the 
pope, and to see that the bloody work was effectually done, he 
accompanied the army in person. Following the advice of the inquis- 
itors, he issued a proclamation delivering up San Sexto to fire and 
sword, which compelled the inhabitants to remain in their retreats. 
He attempted to storm them while they were strongly intrenched in 
the great mountains, whose summits of splintered rocks, towering high 
above the pine forests that clothe their sides, presented to the fugi- 
tives an almost inaccessible place of concealment. The Waldenses 
offered to emigrate, but the viceroy refused to accept any terms but 
their return to the papal Church. They replied that they would 
rather yield their lives than accept peace on such conditions. The vice- 
roy now commanded his men to attack them ; but, as they advanced, 
a shower of rocks hurled them to the bottom a discomfited mass, in 
which the bruised, the maimed, and the dying were confusedly min 
gled with the corpses of the killed. The viceroy, seeing the diffi- 
culty of the enterprise, issued a proclamation promising a free par- 
don to the bannitti, or persons proscribed for crimes, who formed a 
numerous class in Naples, who might be willing to undertake the 
task of scaling the mountains and attacking the stronghold of the 
Waldenses. In obedience to the summons a mob of bandits, out- 
laws, and other criminals assembled to commence the war of exter- 
mination. They were acquainted with the secret paths of the Apen- 
nines, and tracked the fugitives through the recesses of the forest. 
Clambering over the great rocks, these assassins rushed from every 
side on the barricades on the summit, and butchered the poor Vau- 
dois. The greater part of them were slaughtered, while the remain- 
der of these poor wretched people took refuge in the caverns of the 
high rocks, where many of them died^ of hunger. Thus were the 
inhabitants of San Sexto exterminated, some dying by the sword, 
some by fire, while others were torn by blood-hounds or perished by 
famine. 

But worse things, if possible, remained for the inhabitants of La 
Guardia. While the desperadoes of the Neapolitan viceroy were 
busy in the mountains butchering the flying Vaudois of San Sexto, 
the inquisitor-general and his monks were pursuing their work of 
blood at La Guardia. The military force at their command not 
enabling them to take summary measures with the inhabitants, they 



33:3 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

resorted to stratagem. Pretending to be displeased with the severity 
of mihtary execution, the inquisitors retired to some distance from 
the place, and kindly invited the people to come out and hold a con- 
ference with them. Encouraged by the report which they had heard, 
the Vaudois complied ; but no sooner had they made their appear- 
ance outside the gates than the soldiers, who had been placed in 
ambush, seized, according to Monastier's statement, sixteen hundred 
persons. Of these, seventy were sent in chains to the neighboring 
village of Montalto, and tortured by the orders of the inquisitor, 
Panza, to induce them not only to renounce their faith, but also to 
accuse themselves and their brethren of practicing shameful crimes 
in their religious assemblies. 

To accomplish this some of them were compelled to endure the 
most dreadful agonies, but no such confession could be wrung from 
them. " Stefano Carlino," says the historian M'Crie, "was tortured 
until his bowels gushed out." Another prisoner, named Verminel, 
in the extremity of pain, promised to attend mass, and the inquisitor, 
encouraged at this evidence of reform, thought that by increasing 
the violence of the torture he could extort a confession of the charge 
which he was anxious to fasten upon them. The exhausted sufferer 
was kept during eight hours on the horrid instrument called tJie hell; 
but notwithstanding this prolonged torture he persisted in denying 
the atrocious calumny. Another man, named Marzone, was stripped 
naked, beaten with iron rods, dragged through the streets, and then 
knocked down with the blows of torches. One of his sons, a mere 
boy, having refused to become a Romanist and embrace the crucifix, 
was thrown headlong, by order of the inquisitors, from the top of a 
tower. Bernardino Conte, on his way to the stake, threw away a 
crucifix which the executioner had forced into his hands, for which 
act Panza remanded him to prison until a more dreadful mode of 
punishment should be devised. He was conveyed to Cozenza, where 
his body was covered with pitch, in which he was burned to death 
in the presence of a vast multitude of people. A priest, named 
Anania, who had taken an active part in these persecutions, wrote 
an account of it in Latin verse. The treatment of the women, by 
order of the brutal inquisitor, is too disgusting to be described. 
Sixty tender females were put to the torture, the greater part of 
whom died in prison in consequence of their wounds remaining 
undressed. When Panza returned to Naples he delivered a large 
number of Protestants to the secular arm at St. Agata, where he 
excited terror in the hearts of the people ; for whoever attempted to 



WHOLES A LE SLA UGHTER. 333 

intercede in behalf of the prisoners was immediately put to the tor- 
ture as a heretic. 

But these horrors are not to be compared with the barbarous and 
bloody tragedy enacted among the same people at Monalto, A. D. 
1560, under the government of the marquis di Buccianici, whose 
zeal was quickened, it is said, by the promise of a cardinal's hat to 
his brother, if he would clear Calabria of heresy. It was witnessed 
by a servant to Ascanio Caraccioli, himself a Roman Catholic, and 
described by him in a letter, which was published in Italy along with 
other accounts of the horrible transaction. The following is a prin- 
cipal part of it, as quoted by M'Crie: ''Most Illustrious Sir, — Having 
written you from time to time what has been done here in the affair 
of heresy, I have now to inform you of the dreadful Justice Avhich 
began to be executed on these Lutherans early this morning, being the 
nth of June. And, to -tell you the truth, I can compare it to noth- 
ing but the slaughter of so many sheep. They were all shut up in 
one house, as in a sheep-fold. The executioner went, and, bringing 
out one of them, covered his face with a napkin, or bcnda, as we 
call it, led him out to a field near the house, and causing him to 
kneel down, cut his throat with a knife. Then, taking off the bloody 
napkin, he went and brought out another, whom he put to death 
after the same manner. In this way the whole number, amounting 
to eighty-eight men, were butchered. I leave you to figure to your- 
self the lamentable spectacle, for I can scarcely refrain from tears 
while I write ; nor was there any person who, after witnessing the 
execution of one, could stand to look on a second. The meekness 
and patience with which they went to martyrdom and death are 
incredible. Some of them at their death professed themselves of the 
same faith with us, but the greater part died in their cursed obsti- 
nacy. All the old men met their death with cheerfulness, but the 
young men exhibited symptoms of fear. I still shudder while I 
think of the executioner, with the bloody knife in his teeth, the 
dripping napkin in his hand, and his arms besmeared with gore, 
going to the house, and taking out one victim after another, just as 
the butcher does the sheep which he means to kill. 

"According to others, wagons are already come to carry away 
the dead bodies, which are appointed to be quartered and hung up 
on the pubhc roads from one end of Calabria to the other. Unless 
his holiness and the viceroy of Naples command the marquis di 
Buccianici, the governor of this province, to stay his hand and leave 
off, he will go on to put others to the torture and multiply the 



334 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

executions, until he has destroyed the whole. Even to-day a decree 
has passed that a hundred grown-up women shall be put to the 
question, and afterwards executed, in order that there may be a com- 
plete mixture, and we m,ay be able to say in well-sounding language 
that so many persons were punished, partly men and partly women. 
This is all I have to say of this act of justice. It is now eight 
o'clock, and I shall presently hear accounts of what was said by 
these obstinate people as they were led to execution. Some have 
testified such obstinacy and stubbornness as to refuse to look on a 
crucifix or confess to a priest, and they are to be burnt alive. The 
heretics taken in Calabria amount to sixteen hundred, all of whom 
are condemned; but only eighty-eight have as yet been put to death. 
This people came originally from the valley of Angrogna, near Savoy, 
and in Calabria are called Ultramontani. Four other places in the 
kingdom of Naples are inhabited by the same race, but I do not 
know that they behave ill ; for they are a simple, unlettered people, 
entirely occupied with the spade and plow, and, . I am told, show 
themselves sufficiently religious at the hour of death." 

Should the reader doubt the simple statement of these terrible 
atrocities given by an intelligent servant, let him take the following 
summary account of them by a Neapolitan historian of that age, 
who is not likely to have exaggerated any thing that relates to the 
treatment of these poor people: ''Some had their throats cut, 
others were sawn through the middle, and others thrown from the 
top of a high cliff; all were cruelly but deservedly put to death. 
It was strange to hear of their obstinacy ; for, while the father 
saw his son put to death, and the son his father, they not only ex- 
hibited no symptoms of grief, but said joyfully that they would be 
angels of God — so much had the devil, to whom they had given 
themselves up as a prey, deceived them." The remaining portion 
of the history of the Waldensian colony in Calabria may be told in 
a few words. When their persecutors were satiated with blood it 
was not difficult to dispose of the rest of the prisoners. The men 
were sent to the Spanish galleys, the women and children were sold 
for slaves ; and, with the exception of a few who renounced their 
faith, this w^hole colony, which at the commencement of the six- 
teenth century comprised a population of four thousand souls, was 
exterminated. "Many a time have they afflicted me from my 
youth," may the race of the Waldenses say — ''many a time have 
they afflicted me from my youth. My blood — the violence done to 
me and to my flesh — be upon " Rome ! 



THE ITALIAN AND THE SPANISH INQUISITION. 335 



Chapter XX. 

ITALIAN MARTYRS. 

WHILE the popes were actively engaged In suppressing the 
Protestant movement in other parts of Italy they were not 
idle in the territories of the Church. Some writers have stated that 
the procedure of the Inquisition was milder in Italy than in Spain ; 
but it is necessary to qualify both the statement of the fact and the 
reasons by which it is usually accounted for. One of the reasons is 
that the Italians, including the popes, have always consulted their 
pecuniary interests, to which all other considerations must yield. 
The second reason, which is not less significant, is, that the popes, 
being temporal princes in the States of the Church, had no occasion 
to employ the Inquisition to undermine the rights of the secular 
authorities among them, as in other countries. This is unquestion- 
ably true, and it accounts for the fact that the court of Inquisition, 
long after its operations had been suspended in Italy, continued to 
be warmly supported by papal influence in Spain. .But during the 
latter part of the sixteenth century it was fully and constantly em- 
ployed, and the popes were enabled to accomplish by it what they 
as secular rulers could not do. The principal difference between the 
Italian and Spanish Inquisitions at that period consisted in their 
poHcy respecting the mode of punishment. The latter endeavored 
to inspire terror by the solemn spectacle of a public act of justice, 
in which the scaffold was crowded with criminals. The former, 
except in the case of the remote and friendless Calabrians, avoided 
all unnecessary publicity and eclat. Hence the mode of punishment 
usual at Venice was adopted at Rome, as in the case of Bartolommeo 
Fonzio. In other instances the victims were brought to the stake 
singly or in small numbers, and often strangled before being com- 
mitted to the flames. The report of the autos-da-fe of Seville and 
Valladolid was immediately spread over Europe ; but the executions 
at Rome created less excitement in the city, because they were less 
splendid as well as more frequent, and the rumor of them died away 
before it could reach the ear of foreigners. 

Paul III cast many of the Protestants into the prisons of Rome ; 
they were brought forth to execution by Julius III ; and Paul IV 



336 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

followed in the bloody footsteps of his predecessor. During the 
reign of the latter pontiff the Inquisition spread consternation every- 
where, and produced the very evils it labored to remove. Princes 
and princesses, clergy and laity, bishops and friars, entire academies, 
the sacred college, and even the "Holy Office" itself, were sus- 
pected of heresy. The conclave was subjected to an expurgatory 
process. Cardinals Morono and Pole, with Foscarari, bishop of Mo- 
dena, Luighi, Priuli, and other eminent persons, were prosecuted as 
heretics. It was at last found necessary to introduce laymen into 
the Inquisition, because (to use the words of a contemporary writer) 
*'not only many bishops and vicars and friars, but also many of the 
inquisitors themselves, were tainted with heresy." The personal 
fanaticism and jealousy of the pontiff caused much of the extrava- 
gance which prevailed at this time. Such was the "frenzied zeal 
of this infallible dotard " that he summoned some of his cardinals to 
his death-bed, and with his latest breath urged them to sustain the 
Inquisition. If his life had been spared a little longer the poet's 
description of the effects of superstition would have been realized, 
"and one capacious curse enveloped all." The inhabitants of Rome 
were irritated by his violence, extortion, and rapine, and when the 
tidings of his death reached them they gathered in tumultuous 
crowds, burned the house of the Inquisition to the ground, and after 
liberating all the prisoners, and breaking down the statue which 
Paul III had erected for himself, they dragged its members with 
ropes through the streets and threw them into the Tiber. 

As Paul IV was naturally of a mild disposition, he would not 
permit the violent and arbitrary policy of his predecessor to be con- 
tinued ; but, being unable to control the cardinal who was at the 
head of the Inquisition, he was powerless to prevent the massacres 
which disgraced his pontificate in Calabria and various parts of Italy. 
The house of the Inquisition having been demolished in the tumult, 
an edifice belonging to one of the cardinals, and situated beyond the 
Tiber, was used by the inquisitors, and cells were added to it for the 
reception of prisoners. It was commonly called the Lutheran prison, 
and is said to have been built on the site of the ancient "Circus of 
Nero," in which so many Christians were delivered to the wild beasts. 
Philip, the son of the learned Joachim Camerarius, and Peter Rieter 
de Kornburg, a Bavarian gentleman, were confined in this prison for 
two months, A. D. 1565, having been arrested, when visiting Rome 
on their travels, through the information of a Jew, who mistook 
Rieter for another German with whom he had quarreled. The in- 



THE CRUEL REIGN OF PIUS V. 337 

former acknowledged his mistake, but the prisoners were still detained 
as heretics, and obtained their liberty only through the interposition 
of the imperial embassador, accompanied with a threat from the 
Protestant princes, that the agents of Rome should receive the same 
treatment when traveling through Germany. Pompeio di Monti, a 
Neapolitan nobleman, was seized by the familiars of the Inquisition, 
as he was crossing the bridge of St. Angelo on horseback, in com- 
pany with his relation, Marcantonio Colonna, and lodged in the same 
apartment with Camerarius, who derived from his conversation great 
religious consolation, and also wise counsel to avoid the snares which 
the inquisitors generally laid for their prisoners. They shared to- 
gether the use of a Latin Bible which the baron had procured and 
kept concealed in his bed. Camerarius having applied for a Psalter 
to assist him in his devotions, the noted Jesuit, Petrus Canisius, by 
whom he was visited, pressed on him the "Office of the Holy Virgin," 
as more conducive to edification ; and, when it was declined, sent 
him "Amadis de Gaul," and Caesar's "Commentaries." During the 
following year Di Monti was sentenced to be burned alive; but in 
consideration of a sum of seven thousand crowns being advanced by 
his friends he was only strangled, and his body afterwards committed 
to the flames. 

Under Pius V, who ascended the papal chair, A. D. 1566, perse- 
cution raged again in the States of the Church. The name of this 
infamous pontiff was Michele Ghisleri, who had been president of the 
Inquisition, a position which he had held under the designation of 
the Alexandrian cardinal since the late establishment of that tribunal. 
The cruelties committed during the two preceding pontificates were 
in no small degree attributable to his influence. Persecution in its 
most violent forms prevailed in Bologna, where "persons of all ranks 
were promiscuously subjected to the same imprisonments and tortures 
and death." A writer of that period says: "Three persons have 
lately been burnt alive in that city, and two brothers of the noble 
family of Ercolani seized on suspicion of heresy, and sent bound to 
Rome. At, the same time many of the German students in the uni- 
versity were imprisoned or obliged to fly. The following description 
of the state of affairs is from the pen of one who resided, A. D. 
1568, on the borders of Italy: "At Rome some are every day burnt, 
hanged, or beheaded : all the prisons and places of confinement are 
filled, and they are obliged to build new ones. That large city can 
not furnish gaols for the numbers of pious persons who are contin- 
ually apprehended. A distinguished person named Carnesecchi, for- 



338 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

merly embassador to the duke of Tuscany, has been committed to 
the flames. Two persons of still greater distinction, Baron Bernardo 
di Angole and Count di Petigliano, a genuine and brave Roman, 
are in prison. After long resistance they were, at last, induced to 
recant, on a promise that they should be set at liberty. But what 
was the consequence? The one was condemned to pay a fine of 
eighty thousand crowns and to suffer perpetual imprisonment ; and 
the other to pay one thousand crowns, and be confined for life in the 
convent of the Jesuits. Thus have they, by a dishonorable defec- 
tion, purchased a life worse than death." The following anecdote is 
related by the same writer, and shows the base stratagems Avhich the 
Roman Inquisition employed to get hold of its victims: "A letter 
from Genoa to Messere Bonetti states that a rich nobleman at Mo- 
dena, in the duchy of Ferrara, was lately informed against as a here- 
tic to the pope, who adopted a dishonorable method to secure his 
arrest. The nobleman had a cousin at Rome, who was sent for to 
the castle of St. Angelo, and told, ' Either you must- die, or write to 
your cousin at Modena, desiring him to meet you in Bologna at a 
certain hour, as if you wished to speak to him on important business.' 
The letter was dispatched, and the nobleman, having ridden in haste 
to Bologna, was seized as soon as he had dismounted from his horse. 
His friend was then set at liberty. This is dragon's game." 

Speaking of the rigor of the Inquisition in Italy, and the sudden- 
ness of executions at this period, Muretus said to De Thou: *'We 
know not what becomes of people here: I am terrified every morn- 
ing when I rise, lest I should be told that such and such a one is no 
more; and if it should be so, we durst not say a word." But the 
despotism of the popes was beginning to wane. While Pius V was 
brave, he was sometimes compelled to yield. Galeas de San Seve- 
rino, count of Caiazzo, a favorite of Charles IX of France, and an 
officer of high rank in his army, having visited Italy on private busi- 
ness, A. D. 1568, was thrown into the prison of the Inquisition at 
Rome, because he was suspected of being a Huguenot. Charles 
immediately sent the marquis de Pisano to demand the 'liberation of 
the count as a French subject. The pope requested time for delib- 
eration. After repeated delays, the marquis demanded the release 
of the prisoner within eight days ; and, that time having elapsed, he 
had an interview with the pope, and told him that, if the count was 
not delivered to him next day, the embassador of France should be 
instantly recalled, and all the ordinary intercourse with Rome as to 
ecclesiastical benefices in the kingdom should cease. By the advice 



FAVENTINO FANNIO. 339 

of the cardinals, Pius V gave him up very reluctantly, saying that 
the king had sent him inib7'ia cone, or drunken fool. De Thou re- 
ceived this anecdote from the marquis himself It was this same 
nobleman who, when ordered by Sixtus V to quit his territories 
within eight days, replied, "Your territories are not so large, but 
that I can quit them within twenty-four hours." 

According to Scaliger, a man named Jacobini was the first Prot- 
estant martyr in Italy. But the civilian Cujas, who was present at 
his execution, denies that he was a Protestant, and affirms that he 
only differed from the Romish Church in some things, remarking that 
in those days they burned men for a small matter. Others assert 
that Faventino Fannio, or Fannio, a native of Faenza, a town in the 
States of the Church, was the first who suffered death for the Prot- 
estant faith in that country. But this is not an essential question. 
Whether the first martyr or not, it is certain that Faventino Fannio, 
who became acquainted with the truth by reading the Bible, and 
other religious books, in his native tongue, was very active in its 
propagation. He went from place to place, in the province of Ro- 
magna, instructing in each a few persons in the Gospel, and enjoining 
upon them to communicate to others the knowledge which they had 
acquired. He was arrested by the inquisitors and thrown into prison ; 
but through the persuasions of his friends he obtained his liberty by 
recantation. This act greatly distressed him, and when he had re- 
covered from his despondency, he resolved to labor more zealously 
than before in showing his countrymen the way of salvation. Having 
attained more knowledge of the grace of God, and greater strength 
in the principles of the Gospel, he was successful within a short time 
of disseminating extensively the evangelical doctrines. 

While at Bagnacavallo he was arrested a second time, and con- 
ducted in chains to Ferrara. He could not now be moved either by 
threats or solicitations to deny his attachment to the Protestant cause. 
Olympia Morata, Lavinia della Rovere, and other distinguished per- 
sons visited him in prison and were greatly edified by his conversa- 
tion and prayers. To the lamentations of his wife and sister, who 
came to see him, he replied, *' Let it suffice you, that for your sakes 
I have once denied my Savior. Had I then had the knowledge 
which, by the grace of God, I have acquired since my fall, I would 
not have yielded to your entreaties. Go home in peace." Of Fan- 
nio's imprisonment, which lasted two years, it may be said that it: 
fell out to the furtherance of the Gospel, so that ' ' his bonds in Christ 
were manifest in all the palace." When orders were issued to pre- 

23 



340 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

vent strangers from having access to him, he employed himself in 
teaching his fellow-prisoners, including several persons of rank, who 
were confined for state crimes. His piety, combined with his remark- 
able modesty and meekness, so deeply impressed them, that they 
acknowledged, after their enlargement, that they never experienced 
true happiness and liberty until they came within the walls of the 
prison. Orders were then given to place him in solitary confinement, 
where he spent his time in writing religious letters and essays, which 
were circulated among his friends, and some of which were published 
after his death. The priests, fearing that he might exert a pernicious 
influence over those who approached him, frequently changed his 
prison and his keeper. Pope Julius III disregarded every interces- 
sion made for his life, and ordered him to be executed, A. D. 15 50. 
He was accordingly brought out to the stake at an early hour in the 
morning, to prevent the people from witnessing the scene, and, being 
first strangled, was burned. 

About the same time and in the same manner did Domenico della 
Casa Bianca suffer death. He was a native of Bassano in the Vene- 
tian territories and became acquainted with the truth in Germany 
when a soldier in the army of Charles V. With the zeal of a young 
convert he returned to Italy and labored to promote the Gospel 
wherever he went. After a successful tour to Naples and other places 
he was arrested, thrown into prison at Piacenza, and refusing to 
recant received the crown of martyrdom in the thirtieth year of 
his age. 

Among the Italian martyrs and reformers, Mollio, the Bologna 
professor, ranks deservedly high for his talents and holy life. For 
several years after the flight of his brethren Ochino and Martyr, 
A. D. 1542, he was greatly exposed to danger, and more than once 
was seized, thrust into prison, from which he had always providen- 
tially escaped. But soon after the accession of Pope Julius III Mollio 
was eagerly pursued, and being arrested at Ravenna was conducted 
under a strong guard to Rome and lodged in a strait prison. During 
his confinement he composed a commentary on Genesis which is 
praised by Rabus, the German martyrologist. A public assembly of 
the Inquisition was held on the 5th of September, A. D. 1553, with 
great ceremony, which was attended by the six cardinals and their 
episcopal assessors. Before this dread tribunal a number of prisoners 
were made to appear with torches in their hands, all of whom recanted 
and performed penance, except Mollio and a native of Perugio, 
named Tisserano. When the articles of accusation against Mollio 



THE ADDRESS OF MOLLIO. 34 1 

were read he was permitted to speak. He defended with great abil- 
ity the doctrines of justification by faith, the merit of good works, 
auricular confession, and also the sacraments. He pronounced the 
power claimed by the pope and his clergy to be usurped and contrary 
to the spirit of Christianity, and denounced in the severest terms 
their avarice, their tyranny, and their other vices. 

**As for you, cardinals and bishops," said he "if I were satisfied 
that you had justly obtained that power which you assume to your- 
selves and that you had risen to your eminence by virtuous deeds 
and not by blind ambition and the arts of profligacy, I would not 
say a word to you. But since I know on the best grounds that you 
have set moderation and modesty and honor and virtue at defiance, 
I am constrained to treat you without ceremony, and to declare that 
your power is not from God but the devil. If it were apostolical, as 
you would make the poor world believe, then your manner of life 
would resemble that of the apostles. 

"But when I perceive," continued Mollio, "the filth and false- 
hood and profaneness with which it is overspread, what can I think or 
say of your Church but that it is a receptacle of thieves and a den of 
robbers ? What is your doctrine but a dream — a lie forged by hyp- 
ocrites? Your very countenances proclaim that your belly is your 
god. Your great object is to seize and amass wealth by every species 
of injustice and cruelty. You thirst without ceasing for the blood of 
the saints. Can you be the successors of the holy apostles and vicars 
of Jesus Christ, you who despise Christ and his Word, you who act 
as if you did not believe that there is a God in heaven, you who 
persecute to the death his faithful ministers, make his commandments 
of no effect and tyrannize over the consciences of his saints. Where- 
fore I appeal from your sentence and summon you cruel tyrants and 
murderers to answer before the judgment-seat of Christ at the last 
day, where your pompous titles and gorgeous trappings will not 
dazzle, nor your guards and torturing apparatus terrify, us. And, in 
testimony of this, take back that which you have given me." 

So saying he threw the flaming torch which he held in his hand 
on the ground and extinguished it. This bold and fervid address 
silenced the judges, and, at the same time, chained them to their 
seats; but its withering invective, which at first appalled them, finally 
caused the inquisitors to gnash upon Mollio with their teeth like the 
persecutors of the first Christian martyr. The cardinals immediately 
ordered him and his companions to be executed, and they were con- 
veyed accordingly to the Campo del Fior, where they died with the 



342 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

most pious fortitude. Zanchi, in writing to Bullinger, says of this 
Mollio : " I will relate what Mollio di Montalcino, the monk who was 
afterwards burned at Rome for the Gospel, once said to me respect- 
ing your book, De Origine Ertvris. As I had not read or seen the 
work at that time, he exhorted me to purchase it; 'and,' said he, *if 
you have not money, pluck out your right eye to enable you to buy 
it, and read it with the left.' By the favor of Providence I soon 
after found the book, without losing my eye, for I bought it for a 
crown, and abridged it in such a character as that not even an inquis- 
itor could read it; and in such a form that, if he did read it, he 
could not have disrcovered what my sentiments were." 

Pomponio Algieri, a native of Nola, in the kingdom of Naples, 
but, at the time of his arrest, a student at the University of Padua, 
was one of the most interesting of all the Italian martyrs. His 
answers when examined before the podesta, or the chief civil magis- 
trate of Padua, were remarkable for clear views of truth, and form 
one of the ablest refutations of the principal articles of popery that 
can be found. As a result his fame was spread through Italy. After 
his examination he was sent bound to Venice, and the senate, from 
regard to his learning and youth, were anxious to liberate him; but 
as he utterly refused to abandon his sentiments, they condemned him 
to the galleys. Yet yielding to the importunities of the nuncio, they 
afterwards sent him to Rome as an acceptable present to the newly 
elected Pope Paul IV, who sentenced him to be burned alive in the 
twenty-fourth year of his age. He endured the dreadful sufferings 
with a magnanimity which terrified the cardinals and others who 
beheld the cruel scene. While he was in prison in Venice he wrote 
a letter to a friend describing in remarkable language the abundant 
consolation by which he was sustained and cheered. The autograph 
of this letter, together with the facts respecting the writer, were com- 
municated by Curio to the historian Henry Pantaleon. 

Similar constancy, supported by similar internal peace and joy, 
was displayed by Francesco Gamba, a native of Como, who, having 
visited Geneva, became acquainted with the Protestants there, and on 
one occasion had partaken of the Lord's-supper with them. The 
news of this fact reached home before him, and he was seized on 
Lake Como, thrown into prison, and condemned to be burned. The 
imperial embassador and some of the Milanese nobility, by their 
interposition, prevented his execution for some days, and during the 
interval his integrity was assailed by the sophistry of the monks, the 
entreaties of his friends, and the interest taken by many of his towns- 



GOD FR EDO VARAGLIA. 343 

men of the Romish faith who desired to save him. He resisted all 
these efforts to convert him from the Protestant religion, and when 
the hour for his execution arrived he modestly declined the last 
services of the friars, expressed his gratitude to those who labored to 
deliver him, and assured the judge who lamented the necessity of 
enforcing the law, that he forgave him and prayed God to do the 
same. His tongue was perforated to prevent him from addressing 
the spectators. After kneeling down and praying he arose and looked 
upon the vast assembly, composed of several thousand persons. He 
recognized a particular friend in the crowd, and waved his right hand 
to him as the appointed signal that he died in confidence and peace. 
Stretching out his neck to the executioner, who had been authorized 
to favor him by strangling him, he calmly met death on the 21st of 
July, A. D. 1554, and his body was committed to the fire. 

Godfredo Varaglia, a native of Piedmont, was a distinguished 
preacher of the Order of Capuchins. Inheriting from his ancestors a 
bitter feeling against the Waldenses, and receiving in his younger 
years an appointment to labor as a missionary among them, he went 
into the ''Valleys." As he was zealous and eloquent, his friends 
had great expectations of his success ; but he soon became a convert 
to the Waldensian doctrines, and, like another Paul, began to preach 
the faith which he had sought to destroy. From that time he acted 
in concert with Ochino, who belonged, as has been already stated, 
to the same order. Not long after the flight of the latter from Italy, 
Varaglia and twelve others were arrested and sent to Rome. The 
suspicions against them being slight, or their friends influential, they 
were permitted to abjure their heresy in general terms, and were also 
required to remain in the capital on their parole for five years. At 
the end of that period Varaglia was persuaded to lay aside the cowl 
and enter into secular orders. A dignitary of the Church, admiring 
his talents, became a personal friend, and for some time bestowed 
upon him a pension. Having been appointed papal legate to the 
king of France, A. D. 1556, he invited Varaglia to accompany him 
to that country. But his conscience would not permit him any longer 
to conceal his sentiments, and separating from the legate at Lyons, 
he went to Geneva, where he accepted an appointment to preach the 
Gospel to the Waldenses in the Valley of Angrogna. After labor- 
ing a few months among that people he was arrested, conveyed to 
Turin, and condemned to death, which he endured with great for- 
titude on the 29th of March, A. D. 1558, in the fiftieth year of 
his age. During his trial the judges asked him who his companions 



344 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

were, and he replied that he had recently been in company with 
twenty-four preachers, who were mostly from Geneva. Varaglia also 
declared that these servants of Christ had so many followers that the 
inquisitors would not find wood enough to burn them. The papal 
nuncio, Visconti, wrote to Cardinal Borromeo (A. D. 1563) that more 
than the half of the Piedmontese were Huguenots. 

Another illustrious martyr was Ludovico Paschali, or John Louis 
Paschale, a native of Coni, in the plain of Piedmont. By birth he 
was a Roman Catholic, and while young entered the army ; but hav- 
ing acquired a taste for evangelical doctrine at Nice he abandoned 
the military profession, resolving to be no longer a ** knight of the 
sword," but, like Loyola, a "knight of the cross," yet in a truer 
sense. He had just completed his theological studies at Lausanne 
when the Waldenses of Calabria applied to the Italian Church at 
Geneva for preachers. This young minister was designated as one 
eminently qualified for the perilous but honorable position. He was 
betrothed to a Piedmontese lady, Camilla Guerina, who belonged to 
a Protestant family. *'Alas!" she sorrowfully exclaimed, when he 
intimated to her his departure for Calabria, **so near to Rome and so 
far from me." She consented, and they separated, never to meet 
again on earth. Paschale, accompanied by Stefano Negrino, started 
for Calabria, and, on their arrival, they found the country greatly agi- 
tated. The young evangelist preached with such energy and power 
that the zeal and courage of the Calabrian flock revived, and the light 
formerly concealed under a bushel now appeared to all. 

The marquis of Spinello had been the protector of the colonists. 
He ceded lands on his own vast and fertile estates to induce the Wal- 
denses to build cities and plant vineyards, and he soon discovered 
that it was a profitable investment. Peace and prosperity reigned 
throughout Calabria ; but the marquis was compelled by the Inquisi- 
tion to persecute his loyal and industrious subjects. He summoned 
Paschale and his flock before him, and, after dismissing the latter 
with a sharp reprimand, threw the young pastor into the dungeons 
of Foscalda. Negrino was also imprisoned and perished with hun- 
ger in his cell. The bishop of the diocese ordered Paschale to 
be removed to the prison of Cosenza, where he was confined eight 
months. The pope's attention was directed to the case, and he dele- 
gated the infamous Cardinal Alexandrini, inquisitor-general, to extir- 
pate heresy in the kingdom of Naples. By his order Paschale was 
taken from the Castle of Cosenza and conveyed to Naples. " On the 
journey," says Dr. Wylie, "he was subjected to terrible sufferings. 



CONVERSATIONS AND LETTERS OF PASCHALE. 345 

Chained to a gang of prisoners — the handcuffs so tight that they 
entered the flesh — he spent nine days on the road, sleeping at night 
on the bare earth, which was exchanged, on his arrival at Naples, for 
a deep, damp dungeon, the stench of which almost suffocated him." 
On the 1 6th of May, A. D. 1560, he was conducted in chains to 
Rome, and imprisoned in the Torre di Nona, where he was thrust 
into a cell as offensive as that in Naples. 

His brother Bartolomeo, who had come from Coni with letters 
of recommendation to procure, if possible, some mitigation of his 
fate, gives an interesting account of the first interview which, after 
great difficulty, he obtained with him at Rome, in the presence of a 
judge of the Inquisition. **It was quite hideous to see him," says 
he, * ' with his bare head and his arms and hands lacerated by the 
small cords with which he was bound, like one about to be led to 
the gibbet. On advancing to embrace him I sank to the ground. 
* My brother,' said he, 'if you are a Christian, why do you distress 
yourself thus? Do you not know that a leaf can not fall to the earth 
without the will of God ? Comfort yourself in Christ Jesus, for the 
present troubles are not worthy to be compared with the glory to 
come.' * No more of that talk,' exclaimed the inquisitor. When 
we were about to part, my brother begged the judge to remove him 
to a less horrid prison. * There is no other prison for you than this, ' 
was the answer, 'At least show me a little pity in my last days, and 
God will show it to you.' 'There is no pity for such obstinate crim- 
inals as you,' replied the hardened wretch. A Piedmontese doctor, 
who was present, joined me in entreating the judge to grant this favor; 
but he remained inflexible. ' He will do it for the love of God,' said 
my brother, in a melting tone. ' All the other prisons are full, ' re- 
plied the judge, evasively. 'They are not so full but that a small 
corner can be spared for me. ' ' You would infect all who were near 
you by your smooth speeches.' ' I will speak to none who does not 
speak to me.' 'Be content; you can not have another place.' 'I 
must then have patience,' replied my brother, meekly." 

Paschale did not forget his flock in Calabria, but addressed them 
a letter saying, " My state is this: I feel my joy increase every day, 
as I approach nearer to the hour in which I shall be offered as a 
sweet-smelling sacrifice to the Lord Jesus Christ, my faithful Savior ; 
yea, so inexpressible is my joy that I seem to myself to be free from 
captivity, and I am prepared to die for Christ, not only once, but 
ten thousand times, if it were possible ; nevertheless I persevere in 
imploring the divine assistance by prayer, for I am convinced that 



346 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

man is a miserable creature when left to himself; and not upheld and 
directed by God." He wrote to his affianced bride, freely expressing 
his deep affection for her, which ''grows," said he, "with that I feel 
for God." A short time before his death he said to his brother: *'I 
give thanks to my God, that, in the midst of my long-continued and 
severe affliction, I have found some kind friends ; and I thank you, 
my dearest brother, for the tender interest you have taken in my 
welfare. But as for me, God has bestowed on me that knowledge 
of our Lord Jesus Christ which assures me that I am not in an error, 
and I know that I must go by the narrow way of the cross, and seal 
my testimony with my blood. I do not dread death, and still less 
the loss of my earthly goods; for I am certain of eternal life and a 
celestial inheritance, and my heart is united to my Lord and Savior." 
When his brother offered him half his fortune if only he would recant 
and save his life, he replied : '*0h! my brother, the danger in which 
you are involved gives me more distress than all I suffer, or have the 
prospect of suffering, for I perceive that your mind is so addicted to 
earthly things as to be indifferent to heaven." 

Extensive preparations had been made for the trial of Paschale, 
and on the 8th of September, A. D. 1560, he was brought out of his 
prison, conducted to the Convent della Minerva, and cited before the 
papal tribunal. He confessed Christ, and listened to the sentence of 
death pronounced upon him with a serenity of countenance that must 
have surprised his judges. On the following day Rome presented an 
animated appearance. The ringing of the bells and the shouts of the 
multitude indicated some unusual event. From every street and 
piazza eager crowds rushed forth and increased the surging stream of 
humanity which rolled across the bridge of St. Angelo into the gates 
of the old fortress. In the center of the court-yard stood an em- 
blazoned chair, in which was seated Pius IV, who desired to behold 
the martyrdom of Paschale. Behind the pontiff were his cardinals 
and counselors, arrayed in scarlet robes, and other dignitaries in mi- 
tres and cowls, ranged in circles according to their place in the papal 
body. Behind the ecclesiastics sat the beauty and nobility of Rome, 
whose waving plumes and glittering stars made the assemblage still 
more imposing. The court of St. Angelo was densely crowded with 
the excited populace, who impatiently awaited the beginning of the 
tragedy. Rising above the sea of human heads appeared a scaffold, 
an iron stake, and a bundle of fagots. At the appointed time the 
gate opened, and the prisoner entered amid a ** storm of hissing and 
execration." Paschale moved forward on the stone floor of the court, 



THE MARTYRDOM. 347 

and at each step the clank of irons could be heard, indicating how 
heavily his limbs were burdened with fetters. Although pale and 
haggard with suffering, his young face was irradiated by the "serene 
light of deep, untroubled peace." Lifting his eyes, he surveyed the 
vast crowd, and, with countenance undismayed, beheld the terrible 
apparatus of the Inquisition before him. 

The Christian hero, with courage stamped on his brow, calmly 
mounted the scaffold, and stood beside the stake. Forgetting the 
wearer of the papal tiara, every one looked eagerly upon the humble 
victim clad in the sanbenito. ''Good people," exclaimed the martyr, 
amid the silence which then reigned, * * I am come here to die for 
confessing the doctrine of my divine Master and Savior, Jesus Christ." 
Then addressing Pius IV, he arraigned him as the ''enemy of Christ, 
the persecutor of his people, and the Antichrist of Scripture," and 
concluded by "summoning him and all his cardinals to answer for 
their cruelties and murders before the throne of the Lamb." "At his 
words," says the historian Crespin, "the people were deeply moved, 
and the pope and the cardinals gnashed their teeth." The signal was 
then given by the inquisitors ; the executioners seized Paschale, and, 
having strangled him, they kindled the fagots whose blazing flames 
soon reduced his body to ashes. " For once," says Dr. Wylie, " the 
pope had performed his function. With his key of fire, which he 
may truly claim to carry, he had opened the celestial doors, and had 
sent his poor prisoner from the dark dungeons of the Inquisition to 
dwell in the palace of the sky." The ashes of the preacher-martyr 
were collected and thrown into the Tiber, and by it carried to the 
Mediterranean. Even the marble shaft will crumble under the deso- 
lating hand of time, and the grandest monumental pile may fall 
beneath the blows of violence or war, but the tomb of the far-sound- 
ing sea, to which the ashes of Paschale were committed by his ene- 
mies, is indeed a nobler mausoleum than ever Rome raised to any of 
her pontiffs, and it will remain through all the ages until time shall 
be no more. 

Perhaps the most illustrious of all the Italian martyrs, for natural 
talent and endowments, for noble person and manners, and for rich 
acquirements and liberal accomplishments, was Pietro Carnesecchi, a 
native of Florence. He is spoken of in the highest terms by both 
Sadolet and Bembo, and was an intimate friend of the Medici. His 
connection with this powerful family gave him great influence w^ith 
Pope Clement VII, whose secretary and protonotary he was for sev- 
eral years. This pontiff also bestowed upon him two abbacies, one 



348 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

in Naples and the other in France, and it was commonly said ''that 
the Church was governed by Carnesecchi rather than by Clement." 
The latter died, A. D. 1534, after a reign of eleven years, and the 
former, having lost his patron and friend, traveled through the different 
cities of Italy, conversing with the learned and greatly enjoying their 
society. Besides having a thorough knowledge of Greek and Roman 
literatiire, he was distinguished for his eloquence in speaking and 
elegance in writing. At Naples he became acquainted with Valdez, 
and from him imbibed a love for the evangelical doctrines, which 
was daily augmented by the reading of the Scriptures, meditation, 
and intercourse with several learned men, who held in reality some 
of the most important of the new opinions ; such, for instance, as 
justification by faith. During the better days of Cardinal Pole he 
was one of the select party which met in that prelate's house in 
Viterbo and spent the time in religious exercises. When his friend 
Flaminio, startled at the thought of abandoning the Romish Church, 
suddenly ceased his inquiries, Carnesecchi displayed great mental 
courage in welcoming truth, despite strong prejudices. After the 
flight of Ochino and Martyr, Carnesecchi was suspected of not only 
favoring heresy and its abettors, but of holding it himself He was 
summoned to Rome, where Cardinal de Burgos, one of the inquis- 
itors, was ordered to investigate the charges brought against him. 
Paul III was, however, his warm friend, and through the favor of 
this mild pontiff the matter was accommodated. But Carnesecchi 
deemed it prudent to leave Italy for a season, and after spending 
some time with Margaret, duchess of Savoy, who was not unfriendly 
to the reformed doctrines, he went to France, where he was kindly 
and honorably received by the new monarch, Henry II, and his 
queen, Catharine de Medicis. He returned to Italy, A. D. 1552, 
strongly confirmed in his opinions by his intercourse with foreign 
Protestants, and took up his residence mainly at Padua, within the 
Venetian territories. On the 25th of October, A. D. 1557, or about 
two years after Paul IV began to reign, a criminal process was com- 
menced against Carnesecchi ; but, not wishing to place himself at 
the mercy of that furious pontiff, he refused to appear within the 
prescribed term, and was therefore excommunicated as a contuma- 
cious heretic. Before he was actually delivered over to the secular 
power to be punished Giovanni Angelo de Medici ascended the papal 
throne under the name of Pius IV (A. D. 1560), and, being a mem- 
ber of the house of Medici, and a friend to Carnesecchi, he removed 
the sentence of excommunication, without exacting a recantation of 



ARREST AND EXECUTION OF CARNESECCHL 349 

any of his opinions. Galluzzi, in his history of the ''Grand Duchy of 
Tuscany," says that Cosmo, "by means of letters of commendation, 
prorogations, and attestations of infirmity, " succeeded in averting the 
sentence during the hfe of that pontiff. 

When Pius V commenced his cruel reign, A. D. 1566, Carnesec- 
chi, justly fearing the vengeance of the new pope, retired to Florence 




to seek the protection of Cosmo, then duke of Tuscany. But he 
was betrayed by him, and, being carried to Rome, was tried before 
the Inquisition on thirty -four articles, which comprehended all the 
pecuhar doctrines of the Protestants in opposition to the Romish 
Church. The articles were proved by witnesses and by the letters 
of the prisoner, who, after defending himself for some time, admitted 
the truth of the main charges. The papal historian, Laderchius, in 
his ** Annals," gathered from the records of the "Holy Office," 
refers to the firmness and constancy of the accused in the avowal of 



3 so ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

his sentiments. On the i6th of August, A. D. 1567, sentence was 
pronounced against him, and on the 21st of September it was pub- 
Hcly read in the church of St. Mary, near Minerva, along with those 
of other heretics. He was condemned as an ''incorrigible heretic, 
deprived of all honors, dignities, and benefices, and delivered over 
to the secular arm ; after which he was degraded, and clothed with a 
sanbenito painted with flames and devils." The execution of the 
sentence was delayed for ten days, either at the request of the duke, 
or because it was hoped that the prisoner would be penitent on the 
scaffold. Hence a Capuchin of Pistoia was incarcerated along with 
him, with the view of inducing him to recant, but his efforts were 
fruitless. On the 3d of October, A. D. 1567, Carnesecchi Avas 
brought forth for punishment, and, being beheaded, his body was 
consumed by fire. **His fanaticism," says Galuzzi, ** sustained him 
to the very last moment. He went to execution as to a triumph, 
and appeared with new linen and gloves, as his inflamed sanbenito did 
not admit of his wearing any other piece of apparel." 

One of the greatest ornaments of the Italian Reformation was 
Aonio Paleario, or Antonio della Paglia, which was his original 
name. After leaving Sienna, A. D. 1543, he accepted an invitation 
from the senate of Lucca, and remained there ten years, teaching 
the Latin classics and acting as orator to the republic on solemn 
occasions. From Lucca he went to Milan, at the request of the 
authorities of that city, and spent seven years there as professor of 
eloquence, handsomely supported and greatly honored. As he was 
suspected of heresy, and therefore exposed to great peril he resolved 
to leave Milan and go to Bologna; but he fell a prey to the violent 
persecution which broke out at the accession of Pius V, and which 
was fatal to so many learned and excellent men in Italy. He was 
arrested by Frate Angelo de Cremona, the inquisitor, and sent to 
Rome, where he was closely confined for three years in the Torre 
Nona. The principal charges against him were four — namely : that 
he denied purgatory ; disapproved of burying the dead in churches, 
preferring the ancient Roman method of sepulture without the walls 
of cities; ridiculed the monastic life; and ascribed justification solely 
to confidence in the mercy of God, who will for Christ's sake forgive 
our sins. But it is probable that his intimacy with Ochino and other 
prominent men who believed the Protestant doctrines, his defense of 
himself before the senate of Sienna, and, above all, his book on the 
** Benefit of Christ's Death," had much weight against him in the 
deliberation of his judges. At length he was condemned to be exe- 



THE WRITINGS OF PALEARIO. 35 I 

cuted on a gibbet and his body to be burned. Before leaving his 
cell, on the 3d of July, A. D. 1570, he was permitted by his attend- 
ants to write two letters, one to his wife, the other to his two sons, 
Lampridio and Fedro. They are short, but affectionate, indicating 
that the author was sustained by pious fortitude and ready to meet 
his fate. He died in the seventieth year of his age, strong in the 
Protestant faith. An official document of the Dominicans, but which 
has neither names nor signatures, affirms that Paleario recanted. The 
following extract from the "Annals" of Laderchius is a sufficient 
refutation of the falsehood: ''When it appeared that this son of 
Belial was obstinate and refractory, and could by no means be recov- 
ered from the darkness of error to the light of truth, he was deserv- 
edly delivered to the fire, that after suffering its momentary pains 
here he might be bound in everlasting pains hereafter." 

It appears from Paleario's published letters that he enjoyed the 
friendship and correspondence of the most celebrated men of his 
time, both in the Church and the ''Republic of Letters." Among 
the former were Cardinals Sadolet, Bembo, Pole, Maffei, Filonardi, 
Sfondrati ; and among the latter Flaminio, Riccio, Alciati, Vittorio, 
Lampridio, and Buonamici. His poem on the immortality of the 
soul was received with great approbation by literary men. He was, 
indeed, a profound scholar, and his orations were Ciceronian in spirit 
and elegance of style. His "Letter on the Council of Trent," ad- 
dressed to the reformers, and his "Testimony and Plea against the 
Roman Pontiffs," are admirable works, and evince great Biblical 
knowledge, sound faith, and fervent zeal. His treatise on the "Ben- 
efit of Christ's Death" produced considerable excitement, and was 
eminently useful in diffusing evangelical doctrine in Italy upon a 
subject of vital importance. Forty thousand copies were sold in six 
years. It is said that Cardinal Pole had a share in writing, and that 
Flaminio wrote in defense of it. Activity in circulating it was one 
of the charges upon which Cardinal Morone was imprisoned and 
Carnesecchi consigned to the flames. Paleario, before he was arrested, 
had taken care to place his writings in the hands of friends in whom 
he could confide. They have been often published in Protestant 
countries, and thus have escaped the mutilations which those of so 
many other Italian Protestants have suffered. 

Several other excellent men were put to death about the same 
time, among whom were Julio Zannetti and Bartolommeo Bartoccio. 
The latter was a son of a wealthy citizen of Castello, a city in the 
duchy of Spoletto. He had received some knowledge of the new 



352 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

opinions from Fabrizio Tommassi, of Gubbio, an educated young 
man who was his companion at the siege of Sienna, A. D. 1555. 
On returning home he earnestly labored to propagate the truth, and 
several of his relatives were converted. During a dangerous sickness 
he refused the services of the family confessor, and resisted the argu- 
ments of the bishop of the diocese to win him back to the Roman 
Catholic faith. He was, therefore, summoned before the governor, 
Paolo Vitelli ; but, though physically weak, he was able to escape 
during the night by surmounting the wall of the city. He fled first 
to Sienna, and afterwards settled in Venice. Having no means of 
support, and his father disowning him, he retired to Geneva, where he 
married and became a manufacturer of silk. While visiting Genoa, 
A. D. 1567, on business, he imprudently gave his true name to a 
merchant, and was apprehended by the Inquisition. The govern- 
ments of Geneva and Berne sent an envoy to the republic of Genoa 
to demand his liberation, but he had been taken to Rome upon the 
requisition of the pope. After an imprisonment of nearly two years 
he was condemned to be burned alive. With a firm* step and unal- 
tered countenance he went to the place of execution, and, while the 
flames were enveloping his body, the words ' * Vittoiia ! vittona ! — vic- 
tory! victory!" — were distinctly heard from his dying lips. 

During the remainder of the sixteenth century the prisons of the 
Inquisition in Italy, and particularly at Rome, were filled with vic- 
tims, including persons of noble birth, male and female, men of let- 
ters, and mechanics. Some recanted and did penance, others were 
condemned to long imprisonment, and some to worse sufferings. 
Several foreigners, who visited Italy on business or for pleasure, were 
arrested and cruelly treated. Among these were some Englishmen, 
one of whom was Dr. Thomas Wilson, afterwards secretary of Queen 
Elizabeth. He was accused of heresy and thrown into prison at Rome, 
on account of some things which were contained in his books on 
logic and rhetoric. He made his escape in consequence of his prison 
doors being broken open during the tumult which occurred at the 
death of Paul IV. Another prisoner, who fled at the same time, was 
John Craig, a Scotchman, who became one of the most active of the 
fellow-laborers of John Knox, and lived to draw up the ''National 
Covenant," in which Scotland solemnly abjured the Roman Catholic 
faith. Dr. Thomas Reynolds was less fortunate. He resided for 
some time at Naples, and being accused of heresy was sent by the 
bishop to Rome, along with three Neapolitan gentlemen, who were 
also suspected. Refusing to depose against his fellow-prisoners, he 



BEATRICE CENCL 353 

was subjected to the torture called by the Italians la tratta di corda, 
and by the Spaniards, Vastrapado; and, in consequence of this and 
similar treatment, he died in prison in November, A. D. 1566. Two 
persons were burned alive at Rome, A. D. 1595, one a native of 
Silesia, and the other an Englishman, who indiscreetly snatched the 
host from the hand of the priest who was carrying it in procession. 
Before he was committed to the flames the offending hand was cut 
off, and the sacrilegious act thereby condemned. 

Clement VIII, who ascended the papal throne, A. D. 1572, pos- 
sessed the same persecuting spirit which characterized his immediate 
predecessors. When heretics could not be found and sacrificed for 
the glory of the ''Mother Church," this pontiff was diligently em- 
ployed in filling up her coffers. Among the large estates which he 
resolved to seize were those of the Cenci. Count Francesco Cenci 
was the head of the family (A. D. 1585), and a prominent citizen 
of Rome, but a man of ungovernable passions. He was truly a 
second edition of Caesar Borgia, and would commit any crime to 
accomplish his purpose. He poisoned his first wife, the Princess 
Santa Croce, in order to marry the beautiful Lucrezia. There were 
four sons and two daughters, the youngest of whom was Beatrice, 
the most beautiful girl in Rome at the time. The father was so cruel 
to the children that they and the step-mother petitioned the pope to 
shield them ; but he refused, and commanded them to obey the head 
of the family. The other daughter, Marguerite, was given by the 
pope in marriage to Signor Gabreilli ; and it is believed that Christo- 
foro and Racco, two of his sons, were assassinated at the instigation 
of the father. 

Lucrezia, finding that her husband was the basest of men, was 
unwilling to trust the beautiful Beatrice in his hands, and therefore 
petitioned the pope to give her in marriage to Guerra, a young noble- 
man who was deeply attached to her. The count intercepted the 
petition and moved his entire family to a castle-fortress in the soli- 
tudes of the Apennines. His cruel treatment was resumed, and Bea- 
trice was immured and tortured in a dungeon, where her shrieks of 
terror were heard by the family and servants, who could afford no 
relief. The step-mother and eldest son now resolved to remove the 
tyrant, and easily secured the services of Olympio, an assassin, and 
Marzio, a soldier, to carry out their plan. The latter desired to 
avenge the murder of his betrothed, whom the count had endeavored 
to ruin before he put her to death. While sleeping one night in his 
chamber he was slain by these hired men. The family were arrested 



354 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

as accomplices, and tortured by repeated applications of the wheel, 
the pulley, and the rack of the Inquisition. Giacomo, Bernardo, and 
Lucrezia, unable to endure the suffering, confessed, but Beatrice 
refused because, while aware of the plot, she had not consented to it. 
Clement gave her into the hands of the cruel Luciani, who applied a 
variety of tortures. The beautiful sufferer swooned after making 
the dungeon resound with her shrieks ; then she was revived with 
cordials and the cruel process repeated. The tortiwa capillonim, or 
the twisting of the hair into a rope, and the suspension of the whole 
body from the ceiling by it, the taxilla, or the placing of heated 
blocks of wood on the bare feet, and other fiendish tortures were 
resorted to. The promise was made that if she confessed her life 
would be spared, and the entire family released. The latter begged 
her to yield for their sake ; and finally she exclaimed : ** Be it as you 
wish; I am content to die if it will save you." 

The pope was informed that Beatrice had confessed, and as this 
was what he wanted in order to possess their estates, he violated his 
promise, and ordered the whole family to be executed. The bodies, 
after being beheaded, were placed on biers near the statue of St. 
Paul, upon which four torches shed their light, and thousands came 
to strew flowers and drop tears of sympathy while beholding the 
lovely face and form of the martyr-maiden. In the Barberini palace 
at Rome is the world-renowned portrait of this young victim, which 
is said to have been painted by Guido Reni, while she was in prison. 
There is a peculiarity about the head-dress which is rather trying to 
an artist's power of color; consisting of heavy folds of white cloth 
wound around the head, from which a few locks of yellowish brown 
hair escape. The eyes are large, soft, and lustrous, and have a deep 
expression of pensive sorrow, looking as if they had wept away all 
their power of tears. The lips are delicate, full of sensibility, but 
rigid from intense suffering. The outline of the face is fine, and the 
features regular. Hillard compares her to a lily in the garden 
crushed by the fall of an aerolite; and he might have added, that 
Clement, like another Ahab, took possession of the garden or the 
estates of the Cenci, leaving the palace, which yet stands, to the 
descendants. 

While the Inquisition was engaged in destroying heretics, it also 
adopted rigorous measures to suppress and annihilate all books which 
savored of heresy. Paul IV framed a catalogue, A. D. 1559, and 
made its observance universal. This hidex was arranged in three 
divisions. The first contained the names of the authors whose 



THE DESTRUCTION OF PROTESTANT BOOI^. 355 

whole works were interdicted. The second embraced the names 
of those authors, some of whose whole works only were specified and 
forbidden. The third pointed out certain anonymous publications 
which were unlawful to be read. To the whole was added a list 
of more than sixty printers whose publications were all condemned, 
no matter in what language they were' printed, or what subjects 
they treated. This was the origin and foundation of the famous 
Index ExpiirgatoTius, by which Rome has striven to reduce the 
world to the darkness of the Middle Ages. The heretical books 
were doomed to the flames, and severe penalties were decreed 
against those who should neglect to give them up. The pro- 
mulgation of this barbarous decree awakened a feeling of conster- 
nation throughout Italy, especially in Tuscany, whose dukes of the 
celebrated family of the Medici had been proud of the patronage 
which they had afforded to literature and literary men. Cosmo, who 
then occupied the ducal throne, pleaded for some restrictions upon 
the operation of the decree, in order to prevent the devastation 
which it threatened. Venice temporized, and Milan and Naples 
referred the matter to their lord, Philip II, who was then in Flanders. 
The work of destruction proceeded until all libraries, public and pri- 
vate, felt the expurgating process. An immense number of books 
were consumed, and the trade of the printers and booksellers was 
ruined. The disastrous effects were experienced not only at Venice, 
but also in the prominent cities of surrounding countries. Prohib- 
ited books were buried under ground or walled up in houses, and in 
tearing down old houses in Italy valuable books, condemned by the 
Index, have been discovered. 



Chapter XXL 

ITALIAN RULERS AND POETS. 

WHEN we study the history of the suppression and ultimate 
destruction of the Italian Reformation in the sixteenth cen- 
tury we shall discover that the effective cause was the establishment, 
or, to speak more correctly, the reorganization, of the Inquisition in 
that country. It appeared at the opportune moment for the papacy. 
The dawn of the Protestant day shone upon the very throne of the 

Roman pontiff From the city of Ferrara in the north where Renee 

24 



356 "^ ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

sheltered in her palace the disciples of the Gospel to the ancient Par- 
thenope, which looks down from its fig and aloe covered heights upon 
the calm waters of the bay of Naples, the light was dispelling the 
darkness of centuries. Italy had become celebrated as the land of 
the Renaissance, and it now seemed that greater distinction would 
crown it as the land of Protestantism. In Florence, Padua, Bologna, 
Lucca, Modena, Rome, and other cities of classic fame, some of the 
most prominent families had embraced the Gospel. Men of rank in 
the state and of eminence in the Church, noted individuals in the 
republic of letters, orators, poets, and some noble ladies as distin- 
guished for their talents as for their birth, were not ashamed to be 
enrolled among the disciples of that faith which the Lutheran princes 
had confessed at Augsburg. 

An effort had been made at the Ratisbon Conference in January, 
A. D. 1 541, to find a basis of conciliation between the Protestant and 
Roman Catholic Churches. The papal authorities at Rom.e had pre- 
pared the way for the attempted reconcilement of the two creeds by 
infusing new blood into the College of Cardinals. Caspar Contarini, 
a senator of Venice, and a believer in some of the Protestant doc- 
trines, was made a cardinal. The chair of the doge almost within 
his reach, he was persuaded to come to Rome and consecrate his great 
talents and influence to the doubtful experiment of reforming the 
papacy. By his advice several ecclesiastics, whose sentiments were 
similar to his own were added to the Sacred College, among others 
Sadolet, Gioberto Caraffa, and Reginald Pole. The deputies to the 
Ratisbon Conference having returned to Rome, and reported the fail- 
ure of all the efforts to frame a basis of agreement between the two 
faiths, the pope, alarmed at the spread of Protestantism in Italy and 
elsewhere, exclaimed, ''What, then, is to be done?" Cardinal 
Caraffa and John Alvarez de Toledo, bishop of Burgos, to whom 
the question was addressed, immediately answered, "Re-establish the 
Inquisition." The preceding chapters describe the terrible results of 
that tribunal in the peninsula; but, while the Italian Reformation had 
been suppressed, it had many secret friends even as late as the close 
of the sixteenth century. 

The prominent events in the civil and literary history of Italy 
during the sixteenth century deserve special consideration. When 
Lorenzo de Medici died, A. D. 1492, his son, Pietro, succeeded him 
in the government of Florence. In the following year (A. D. 1493), 
the death of Pope Innocent VIII occurred, and Roderigo Borgia, who 
bought his election of the Sacred College, became the pontiff under 



FRENCH CONQ UES T OF ITAL V. 357 

the name of Alexander VI. He was a man of great ability, but 
notoriously corrupt, constantly seeking to advance the ambitious 
schemes of his children, of whom Caesar and Lucrezia Borgia are the 
most celebrated. Pietro de Medici formed a close alliance with Fer- 
dinand of Naples, and labored to defeat the plans of Ludovico Sforza, 
duke of Milan, and the pope. Ludovico, whose nephew was the 
son-in-law of Ferdinand, feared that the Neapolitan king would seek 
to restore the dispossessed duke to the throne of Milan, and he made 
an offensive and defensive alliance with the pope and the Venetians. 
Distrusting both his allies, he invited Charles VIII, of France, to 
enter Italy and take possession of the kingdom of Naples. The 
French monarch, who had a pretended claim to the crown of Naples, 
which he had inherited from the house of Anjou, accepted the offer 
and invaded Italy with a powerful army in August, A. D. 1494. At 
Pavia he visited the dispossessed duke of Milan, who, with his wife, 
was kept by Ludovico in a castle. Soon afterward the duke died, poi- 
soned, as it is generally believed, by his uncle, Ludovico, who, under 
the protection of the French, assumed the title of Duke of Milan. 

Charles secured the friendship of the Florentines, but they were 
indignant because Pietro de Medici made an unfortunate treaty with 
him, and they expelled their ruler from the city, to which he never 
returned. The French monarch marched to Rome, dictated terms 
to the people, received the homage of the pope, and then proceeded 
to Naples, where he was cordially welcomed, the young king, Alfonso, 
having fled to Sicily. But Charles afterwards met with reverses, his 
allies abandoned him, and he retreated from Italy. Louis XII 
mounted the French throne, A. D. 1499, and in August of that year 
entered Italy, captured Milan, and drove Ludovico from the city. 
He also became master of Genoa ; but the people, disliking his arbi- 
trary rule, attempted to revolt, A. D. 1507, but were compelled to 
submit. The Genoese republic, like the Venetian, avoided entan- 
gling alliances with Italian politics. From its earliest history the 
government was conducted entirely by the nobles in their own inter- 
est; but a check was placed upon their power, A. D. 1039, by the 
choice of a doge. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries 
Genoa and Venice were engaged in hostilities. The war which was 
closed by the treaty of Turin, A. D. 1381, was disastrous to both; 
but Venice recovered and became as powerful as ever, yet Genoa 
never rallied. The republic was so weakened by internal dissensions 
that, in order to save themselves from being absorbed by Milan, the 
Genoese conferred the Signora on Charles VI, of France, A. D. 1396. 



3 5 8 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

After a series of battles extending through a period of fourteen 
years, Louis XII gladly consented to terms of peace, A. D. 15 13. 
He was removed by death two years afterwards, and Francis I became 
his successor. The latter revived the French claim to the duchy of 
Milan and prepared to maintain it. Venice and Genoa embraced the 
French cause, but the pope, the Spanish viceroy, the Florentines, 
and the Swiss were opposed to the French rule in Italy. Ferdinand, 
of Spain, died A. D. 15 16, and was succeeded by his grandson, 
Charles, Archduke of Austria. In Italy he was the rival of the king 
of France, and the natural ally of the pope, and consequently a 
treaty was negotiated between them, A. D. 1521, for the expulsion 
of the French. The latter were soon driven out of the duchy of 
Milan, and it is said that Leo X.was so overcome with joy at the 
news that he died. Venice now abandoned the French alliance and 
joined the party of Charles ; and Genoa was captured from the French 
by the imperial army, A. D. 1522. Thus the power of Spain was 
supreme throughout Italy. 

On the 6th of May, A. D. 1527, the army of Charles, passing by 
Florence, came to Rome, carried it by storm, and compelled Clem- 
ent VII to take refuge in the Castle of St. Angelo. The Florentines, 
taking advantage of the absence of the imperial army, drove out the 
Medici, and, placing themselves under the protection of France, " 
restored their republican form of government. Genoa also threw off 
the Spanish yoke, and, under the lead of Andrea Doria, declared for 
the French. The Genoese fleet assisted that of France in blockading 
Naples, and the city must have fallen had not Francis I seriously 
offended the Dorias by his unjust treatment. Andrea Doria withdrew 
his fleet, and Genoa abandoned the French alliance and went over to 
Charles, whose power was now riveted upon Italy more firmly than 
ever. He was crowned king of Italy and emperor by Pope Clement, 
A. D. 1530. The double coronation occurred at Bologna, instead of 
at Milan and Rome. He was absolute in Italy, and in the truest 
sense king of that country ; but becoming weary in the discharge of 
official duties he abdicated the throne A. D. 1555, and was succeeded 
in the empire by his brother, Ferdinand. 

Thus, during the sixteenth century, Italy was the battle-field of 
France and Spain, and her republics favored the one or the other of 
these powerful rivals as their respective interests suggested. The 
Roman hierarchy also displayed its usual sagacity in managing its 
affairs, the reigning pontiffs consulting the welfare of their relatives 
and special friends in every act of diplomacy. All these contend- 



LUDO VI CO ARIOSTO. 3 5 9 

ing parties, however, were unanimous in their opposition to the 
Italian Reformation, and succeeded in extinguishing for a time that 
light which relieved while it shone the surrounding papal darkness. 
But now Italy was tranquil ; all her states either belonged to or were 
in amity and alliance with Spain. She had no disturbances to dread ; 
her ancient spirit declined, and she sank into luxury, occupied in the 
enjoyment of her arts and natural advantages. The name of Andrea 
Doria is a bright star in her national sky. He sought neither power 
nor reward for himself, and was never elected doge of Genoa, though 
he was its defender. This noble patriot died, honored and lamented, 
A. D. 1560, in the ninety-fourth year of his age. 

The history of Italian art and literature in the sixteenth century 
rivals the ages of Pericles and Augustus in the number of distin- 
guished names, each of which might form an epoch. Leo X was the 
most illustrious of a series of papal patrons, bestowing liberal rewards 
not only on authors, but also on the celebrated artists, Raphael and 
Michael Angelo. Cosmo de Medici commanded Varchi, a historian 
of Florence, to write a faithful narrative of that republic, so that the 
crimes, by which his own family attained the sovereignty, might not 
be concealed. From the beginning of his reign, A. D. 1537, until 
its close — a period of thirty-eight years — he encouraged -the study 
and practice of all the fine arts; and under his son, Francesco, the 
learned institutions already in existence were advanced, and the 
academy, Delia Cnisca, was founded. The court of the Estes in 
P^errara entertained Ariosto and Tasso, and many of the other courts, 
great and small, as those of the Gonzagas in Mantua, of the dukes 
of Urbino, and of Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, were hospitable 
to scholars and poets, and numerous literary academies were 
instituted. 

Pre-eminent among the poets of this century was Ludovico Ariosto, 
who was born on the 8th of September, A. D. 1474, at Reggio, of 
which place his father was the governor. He was a man of the world 
and of society, possessed wit and good sense, and during his busy 
life manifested no poetic melancholy. His great poem, "Orlando 
Furioso," occupied him eleven years. It consists of forty-six cantos 
and contains more than thirty-eight thousand lines. Ariosto sang 
the adventures and misfortunes of those paladins of Charlemagne, 
who fought in the pass of Roncesvalles, and defended Europe against 
the Moors. Orlando, the hero, becomes mad through love for An- 
gelica, and hence the title of the poem. The loves and exploits of 
Bradamante and Ruggiero, imaginary ancestors of the house of Este, 



36o ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

form the basis of this romantic epic, and hence the author was called 
the Ferrarese Homer. The courtesies and heroisms of knights, the 
loves of ladies, and the madness of Orlando, give occasion for most 
various and always natural pictures, all the passions being delineated 
in appropriate colors, so that Tasso affirmed the excellence of Ariosto 
not only in versatility of invention, but in propriety of treatment. 
This great poem abounds in striking adventures, and shows that its 
composer had been a diligent student of the fabliaux of troitveirs, and 
the lyrics of the Provencal poets. Ariosto, however, is allowed to 
have possessed a fertility of fancy almost unequaled, and a rare orig- 
inality. Many of his similes are unsurpassed in simplicity and grace. 
Besides his masterpiece he wrote satires on the politics and the rulers 
of his time, and his Negivmante and Zanotti almost entitle him to be 
called the father of Italian comedy. He died A. D. 1533. 

Bernardo Tasso was the author of the Amadigi and other esteemed 
poems; but when Torquato, his renowned son, began to write, the 
father recognized in him a superior. The latter was born at Sorrento, 
in the kingdom of Naples, A. D. 1544, and derives his celebrity 
from his "Jerusalem Delivered" {Gmisakmme Liberatci), an epic poem 
of great merit. In its form he strictly followed Virgil and Homer, 
and, like the works of these illustrious authors, his production has 
gained the palm of immortality. It imparts to the classical mythol- 
ogy the marvels of enchantment and magic, and reflects the romantic 
spirit of the times. Its superiority has caused the "Rinaldo " and the 
pastoral drama of "Aminta" to fall into undeserved neglect. Some 
of Tasso's sonnets also, and other minor pieces, possess a rare beauty ; 
and his prose letters and moral dialogues are remarkable for their 
eloquence and philosophical tone. He was the most unhappy of 
authors, and spent a life of great and varied suffering. His mind 
was always seriously impaired, and he injured his health, which was 
naturally delicate, by an incessant use of medicine. Among other 
calamities, he was confined by the duke of Ferrara, who had been 
his patron until he committed the imprudent act of embracing, in 
the midst of a crowded assembly, the Princess Eleonora, the duke's 
sister, with whom he had unfortunately fallen in love. For this 
offense he was consigned to a hospital for a long time under the pre- 
tense that he was insane. After mourning his disappointment in a 
tedious solitude, rendered more afflictive by a lingering disease and 
occasional lunacy, he was at last released. His merits as a poet now 
attracted the attention of the nation, and just as he was on the point 
of receiving the laurel crown from Pope Clement VIII, he suddenly 



NICCOLA MA CCHIA VELLL 361 

expired, A. D. 1595, and that which was to have been, on the next 
day, his coronation, proved to be the melancholy procession of his 
funeral. 

Among the Italian poets of less distinction were Rucellai, Valva- 
gone, Trissino, Speroni, Anguillara, Martelli, Aretino, Molza, Casa, 
BentivogMo, Nelli, Filicaia, Andreini, Guarini, and Alamanni. Guarini 
was the author of a pastoral poem which was considered almost equal 
in merit to the "Aminta " of Tasso, and Alamanni excelled in satire. 
The most eminent poetess of the century was Vittoria Colonna, 
highly applauded by Ariosto. Berni was the head of a school of 
burlesque poetry, called from him the Bernesca rhyme. The best of 
his pieces, the ''Orlando Innamorato, " possesses grace, elegance, and 
originality. At this period the Italians developed the dramatic art 
hy the union of music with poetry. The new and brilliant invention 
of the opera belongs to the Florentines, the first having been the 
''Daphne," the w^ords of which were by Rinuccini, and the music 
by Peri, and which was represented, A. D. 1597. According to 
Muratori, the modern opera began with the melodramas which Ora- 
zio Veccho, of Modena, produced ; and this new style became so 
popular in Italy, that authors and musicians immediately devoted 
themselves to it, and it was soon introduced into Germany and 
France. Pietro Bembo, who died A. D. 1547, restored elegance and 
correctness to the native language, and thus revived its popularity 
among the learned. Annibale Caro, who was born A. D. 1507, and 
died A. D. 1566, translated many of the classics into Italian, and 
some critics regard his compositions superior in style even to those 
of Petrarch. His versions are characterized by great originality, and 
it has been said that Virgil himself would hesitate whether to give 
the palm to his own work or to that of his translator. The original 
writings of this author also received the highest commendation for 
elegance. 

An important place in Italian literature is held by political writ- 
ers, foremost among whom was Niccola Macchiavelli, who was born, 
A. D. 1469, at Florence. His father, Bernardo, was a lawyer, who 
traced his ancestry to Hugo, marquis of Tuscany. Niccola received 
instruction from the celebrated scholar, Marcello Virgilio, and en- 
gaged in public affairs at an early age. From a subordinate post in 
the office of the chancellor of Florence, which he held at the critical 
period of the republic, which succeeded the expulsion of the Medici, 
A. D. 1493, he was promoted, A. D. 1498, to the place of secretary 
of the 'Ten,' which, in the Florentine constitution of that day, may 



362 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

be regarded as the ministry of foreign affairs. His duties were almost 
entirely diplomatic : he was employed in a great variety of missions, 
the instructions and correspondence connected with which may almost 
be said to contain thq, secret political history of Italy during his time. 
The culminating point of his reputation as a diplomatist was his 
mission to the great master of treachery and dissimulation, Caesar 
Borgia, duke of Valentino, A. D. 1502, of which an account is pre- 
served in fifty-two letters, written during the course of the negotia- 
tion, not surpassed in dramatic interest by any series of state papers 
which ever appeared in the history of any nation. 

In the complicated external relations which Italy had now assumed 
Macchiavelli is found in communication with all the great foreign 
powers, as he had hitherto been with the Italian principalities. He 
was sent, A. D. 1507, to the Emperor Maximilian, and undertook a 
mission to France, A. D. 15 10. This was his third visit to that coun- 
try in a diplomatic capacity, and its important bearing on the relation 
of France with Italy may be seen by comparing the League of Cam- 
bray with the subsequent alliance for the expulsion of the French 
out of Italy. On the restoration of the Medici, A. D. 15 12, he was 
involved in the downfall of his patron, the Gonfaloniere Soderini, and 
was arrested on a charge of conspiracy, A. D. 15 13. When put to 
the torture he disclaimed all knowledge of the alleged conspiracy ; 
and, though pardoned in virtue of the amnesty ordered by Leo X, 
he was compelled for several years to withdraw from public life, dur- 
ing which period he devoted himself to literature. It was not until 
the death of Lorenzo de Medici, A. D. 15 19, that he began to recover 
favor. He was commissioned in that year, by Leo X, to draw up his 
report on a reform of the state of Florence, and he resumed his old 
official occupation A. D. 1521, being employed in various diplomatic 
service to several of the states of Italy. On his return to Florence, 
in May, A. D. 1527, he was taken ill, and having trusted to his own 
treatment of himself, the malady assumed a very formidable charac- 
ter, and in the end proved fatal, on the 22d of June, A. D. 1527, 
just as he had completed his fifty-eighth year. Some difference of 
opinion has existed as to his religious belief, and as to his sentim.ents 
during his last hours ; but it seems certain that he died trusting in 
the promises of the Gospel, and consoled with the ordinary ministra- 
tions of his Church. He was buried in the family vault in the church 
of Santa Croce, at Florence; but not until A. D. 1787, and then 
through the munificence of a foreigner, the Earl Cowper, was a 
monument raised to his memory. 



MA CCHIA VELLI 'S LITER AR V WORKS. 363 

The literary works of Macchiavelli are numerous, consisting of 
ten volumes, issued at Florence, A. D. 1783. Besides his letters and 
state papers of the highest interest, he was the author of comedies, 
of an essay on the Italian language, and of several minor composi- 
tions. His historical writings comprise a discourse on Livy, histories 
of Florence, extending from A. D. 1215 to A. D. 1492, with a frag- 
mentary continuation to A. D. 1499; a history of the affairs of Lucca, 
and a biography of Castruccio Castracani, which was not completed. 
He also wrote several books on the art of war, which have been much 
admired by the learned in military science. But the great source of 
his reputation for good, or for evil, is the celebrated book, De Piinci- 
patzbus, or, as it has since been called, Del Principe, written, A. D. 
1514, and published, A. D. 1532. The main question discussed in 
this famous book is, ''How can principalities be governed and main- 
tained?" In resolving this question, various cases are supposed, for 
each of which appropriate rules, principles, and suggestions are laid 
down, and all are illustrated both by contemporary examples and 
by a wealth of historical learning which it is difficult to overestimate. 
The seventh chapter, in which he details, with evident admiration, the 
system of Caesar Borgia, and the eighteenth, in which he discusses 
the duty of princes as to the obligation of keeping faith, are those 
which, no doubt, have contributed to make the name of the author 
the symbol of every thing that is odious. 

Conflicting opinions, however, are entertained concerning the 
design of the Florentine statesman and diplomatist in writing "The 
Prince." Some maintain the position that the researches of modern 
Italian scholars, and a better consideration of the political state of 
Italy in the days of Macchiavelli, have at length vindicated in some 
measure his name, and placed him in a different light. The advo- 
cates of this theory assert that the work is a calm and forcible exposi- 
tion of the means by which tyranny may be established and sustained ; 
and if it be a guide to princes desiring to become despotic, it also 
weakens despotism by exposing its most subtle secrets. These de- 
fenders of Macchiavelli refer to the fact that he was an ardent friend 
of liberty, and that, consequently, // Principe was intended to be a 
satire upon absolutism, thereby promoting the cause of freedom. 
This theory, that the design of the work was to make arbitrary power 
odious and contemptible, is rejected by the old school of critics, who 
declare that the broad scheme, revealed in every chapter, though 
more distinct in the seventh and eighteenth, is that, for the establish- 
ment and maintenance of authority, all means may be resorted to, 



364 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

and that the worst and most treacherous acts of the ruler, however 
unlawful in themselves, are justified by the wickedness and treachery 
of the governed. Not only the general tone of the book is referred 
to as a proof of its aim, but also a letter written A. D. 15 13, and only 
discovered in 1 8 10, by Macchiavelli to his friend Vettori, from which 
it appears that the author wrote "The Prince" to gratify the Medici, 
for whose private perusal it was designed, and not for publication. 
Whichever theory is accepted, it can not be denied that this profound 
and philosophical statesman desired the liberation of Italy from foreign 
rule, and believing that strong native governments, even though 
absolute, must be endured, he favored that of the Medici' for Flor- 
ence, not hesitating to advocate the use of all means for its security 
and consolidation. ''The Prince" called forth many criticisms and 
rejoinders, the most remarkable being from the pen of Frederick the 
Great, A. D. 1740. This manual of government was constantly in 
the hands of such sovereigns as Charles V and Sixtus V, and the 
author was recognized as a master in the art of diplomacy. During 
his life he was employed in twenty-three foreign embassies. He was 
also a dramatist, and excelled as a writer, his style being marked 
by simplicity, strength, thought, and a rare but felicitous use of 
ornament. 

Among other political writers were Botero and Giannotti ; but 
nearer to Macchiavelli in merit was Paruta, who was born A. D. 
1540, and died A. D. 1598. Paolo Giovio wrote in Latin a partisan 
history of his own time, and general histories were written by Giam- 
bullari and Adriani. The historians of Venice were Bembo, Paruta, 
and Contarini ; of Genoa Giustiniani, Bonfadio, and Foglietta ; of Fer- 
rara, Ciuzio, and Falletti ; of Florence, Nardi, Varchi, Nerli, Segni, 
Capponi, and Scipione Ammirato; and of Naples, Costanzo, Porzio, 
and Summonte. Vasari was the most prominent of the historians 
of art, and recorded the lives of the most excellent painters, 
sculptors, and architects of Italy. 



DECLINE OF THE VAUDOIS CHURCH. 365 



Chapter XXII. 

SYNOD IN THE WALDENSIAN VALLEYS. 

THE promise made to the Waldenses by the duke of Savoy, 
A. D. 1489, that they should not again be persecuted, was, no 
doubt, sincere, but he could not altogether protect them from the 
secret plottings of the priesthood, though he had the power to pre- 
vent the invasion of their ** Valleys" by such armies as that which 
Cataneo commanded. While unmolested by organized bands of cru- 
saders, they were assailed by the papal missionary and inquisitor, 
who proselyted some and kidnaped others. Many outwardly con- 
forrrted to the Romish Church rather than be annoyed by their 
enemies. Monastier says, *'In order to be shielded from all inter- 
ruption in their journeys on business, they obtained from the priests, 
who were settled in the valleys, certificates or testimonials of their 
being papists." Before obtaining this credential the applicant was 
required to show that he had attended the Romish chapel, practiced 
confession, received the mass, and had his children baptized by the 
priest. It is said that to atone for this wicked dissimulation they 
muttered to themselves, when entering the Romish temples, *'Cave 
of robbers, may God confound thee!" While professing to be Ro- 
manists they continued to attend the Waldensian services, and to 
submit to the censures of the Vaudois pastors. It was evident that 
both the members who practiced such deception and the Church 
that permitted it had greatly declined in piety. The old vine, 
planted in apostolic days, and so long covered with the shadow of 
the mountains, appeared to be dying. 

But He who had planted it "looked down from heaven and 
visited it." The Reformation now dawned upon Europe. The river 
of the "Water of Life," which for twelve centuries seemed to flow 
only through the Alpine valleys, began to spread through Christen- 
dom, and the old and now declining Vaudois Church drank anew of 
the celestial stream that imparted new life and covered the branches 
of this ancient vine with blossoms and fruit. The Reformation had 
already moved most of the countries of Europe to their depths before 
the inhabitants of these secluded mountains had heard of the won- 
derful event. When the intelligence reached them, they ' ' were as men 



366 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

who dreamed," and became anxious to have a confirmation of the 
glorious news. In order to ascertain to what extent the nations of 
Europe had cast off the yoke of Rome the Waldenses selected pastor 
Martin, of the valley of Lucerna, to go forth on an investigating 
tour. In A. D. 1526 he returned with the astonishing information 
that the light of apostolic Christianity was shining on Germany, 
Switzerland, and France, and that multitudes were every day openly 
professing the same doctrines that the Waldenses had preached from 
the earliest centuries of the Christian era. In attestation of his state- 
ment he showed books that he had brought from Germany, contain- 
ing the views of the reformers. 

The remnant of the Vaudols on the north of the Alps were also 
surprised and gladdened by this great spiritual revolution, and sent 
forth men to collect all the facts concerning It. In A. D. 1530, 
George Morel, of Merlndol, and Pierre Masson, of Burgundy, were 
commissioned by the Churches of Provence and Dauphine to visit 
the reformers of Switzerland and Germany, and learn what they could 
respecting their doctrine and manner of life. These deputies assem- 
bled In conference with the members of the Protestant Churches of 
Berne, Morat, and Neuchatel, and also held interviews with Berthold 
Haller and William Farel. They went on to Basle, and presented to 
CEcolampadius, In October, A. D. 1530, a document in Latin, which 
contained a full account of their ecclesiastical discipline, doctrine, 
worship, and manners. CEcolampadius was urged to express his 
opinion; favorable or otherwise, relative to the doctrine and order 
of the Vaudols Church, and to suggest any modifications he deemed 
necessary. This submission of the elder Church to the younger was 
a beautiful Illustration of the humility that characterized the Vaudols. 

The reformer of Basle experienced unspeakable joy from the visit 
of these two pastors of this primitive Church. Their testimony was 
to him the voice of the ancient and apostolic Church addressing the 
Christians of the sixteenth century, and extending to them a cordial 
welcome within the gates of the City of God. To him It was' a 
miracle that this "little flock had been for ages in the fires, but was 
not consumed." This was encouraging to those who were about to 
suffer persecutions not less terrific. *'We render thanks," said 
CEcolampadius, in his letter of the 13th of October, A. D. 1530, to 
the Churches of Provence, ''to our most gracious Father, that he 
has called you into such marvelous light during the ages in which 
such thick darkness has covered almost the whole world under the 
empire of Antichrist. We love you as brethren." But his affection 



A MEMORABLE INTERVIEW, 367 

for them did not blind him to their spiritual declension, nor deter 
him from giving such admonitions as he regarded necessary. "As 
we approve of many things among you," he wrote, "so there are 
several which we wish to see amended. We are informed that the 
fear of persecution has caused you to dissemble and to conceal your 
faith. . . . There is no concord between Christ and Belial. You 
commune with unbelievers ; you take part in their abominable masses, 
in which the death and passion of Christ are blasphemed. 
I know your weakness ; but it becomes those who have been re- 
deemed by the blood of Christ to be more courageous. It is better 
for us to die than to be overcome by temptation." Thus CEcolam- 
padius, speaking in the name of the Church of the Reformation, 
repaid the Church of the Alps for the services she had rendered to 
the world in former ages. By this sharp but brotherly rebuke he 
endeavored to restore fo her the purity and glory which she had lost. 

The deputies, after their interview with CEcolampadius, went to 
Strasburg, and made a similar statement of their faith to Bucer, 
Capito, and other reformers of that city, eliciting similar congratula- 
tions and counsels. The Church of the Reformation, in the clear 
light of her morning, beheld man}^ things which had become dim in 
the evening of the Vaudois Church, and the former gladly imparted 
to her elder sister the knowledge obtained from wider observation. 
If the Protestants of the sixteenth century recognized the voice of 
apostolic Christianity speaking in the Waldenses, the latter heard the 
voice of the Bible — or, rather, of God himself — speaking in the re- 
formers, and therefore modestly received their reproofs. This was, 
indeed, an illustration of the Savior's words, "The last shall be 
first." 

The meeting of the representatives of these two Churches was 
truly a memorable occasion. Each was a miracle to the other. The 
Church of the sixteenth century beheld with wonder the preservation 
of the Vaudois Church for ages amid the fires of persecution ; and 
the resurrection of the former was a yet greater mystery to the 
Church of the first century. By comparing their respective creeds 
they were astonished to find them one. When blended, the tones 
of both instruments made perfect harmony, and sent forth the same 
Gospel music. In tracing the streams of evidence, to ascertain the 
sources of their knowledge, they discovered that both issued from 
the same fountain — the Word of God. They were not two Churches, 
but one, the elder and younger members of the same glorious fam- 
ily, the children of the same Father. As Dr. Wylie eloquently 



368 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

remarks, "What a magnificent monument of the true antiquity and 
genuine cathoHcity of Protestantism!" 

Of the two Provence deputies who visited the reformers of Switz- 
land, only one returned. While proceeding homeward they came to 
Dijon, and there, from some cause or other, Pierre Masson was sus- 
pected, thrown into prison, condemned, and finally burned. His 
fellow-deputy, George Morel, was not disturbed, but, conveying the 
answers of the reformers, especially the letters of CEcolampadius, 
continued on his journey, and arrived in safety in Provence. The 
documents he brought were fully discussed, their contents causing 
these two ancient Churches mingled joy and sorrow — the former, 
however, being in the ascendancy. The confessors of the Alps con- 
sidered themselves alone in the world ; every successive century be- 
held a diminution of their numbers, and they were becoming less 
determined ; their ancient enemy, on the other hand, gradually 
extended her dominion and strengthened her power. Indeed, the 
Waldenses imagined that soon the public profession of the Gospel 
would cease. They were, therefore, astonished to hear that in many 
lands there was a numerous body of Christians, distinguished for 
their knowledge, faith, and courage. The news that at that moment 
a new army of Christian soldiers were in the field to maintain the 
old battle literally astounded them ; but the intelligence solved a 
problem belonging to the past. Their fathers had shed their blood, 
and not until now were its fruits visible. While they had fought 
the battles of truth, the honor of the victory was reserved for those 
combatants who more recently appeared upon the scene of action. 
The Waldenses painfully realized that by their departure from the 
"old paths" they had forfeited this reward; hence the regret that 
mingled with their joy. 

The communications which their deputies brought back from the 
Swiss and German Reformers were carefully considered, and especially 
the reforms which were urged upon them. The great majority of the 
Vaudois barbes favored the adoption of the measures proposed by the 
Churches of the Protestant faith, but a small minority opposed it be- 
cause they, as old disciples, would not permit dictation from the 
new, or because they themselves were secretly inclined to the Romish 
superstitions. They again sought advice from the Reformers, and 
after repeated interviews and expressions of opinions, it was finally 
decided to convene a synod in the "Valleys," at which all the ques- 
tions between the two churches might be debated, and the future 
relations of each determined. It would be necessary for the Church 



CHAMFORANS. 369 

of the Alps to show that great and radical differences in doctrine ex- 
isted between herself and the newly organized Church before she could 
justify herself in remaining independent of it, as she was previous to 
the Reformation. If no such differences existed, she dared not con- 
tinue apart but must unite with the others. 

It was resolved that the approaching synod should possess a truly 
oecumenical character — a general assembly of all the children of the 
Protestant faith. A cordial invitation was extended, and was gen- 
erally responded to. There were in the synod representatives of all 
the Waldensian Churches in the bosom of the Alps. The Albigen- 
sian communities on the north of the chain and the Vaudois Churches 
in Calabria sent deputies to it. The Churches of French Switzerland 
appointed William Farel and Anthony Saunier to attend it. Dele- 
gates from more distant lands, such as Bohemia, came to deliberate 
and vote in this famous convention. It assembled on the 12th of 
October, A. D. 1552, two years after the adoption of the Augsburg 
Confession, which marked the culmination of the German Reforma- 
tion, and one year after the death of Zwingle on the field of Cappel. 
In France the Reformation was illustrating the power of its faith by 
the heroic deaths of its children. Calvin had already enlisted under 
the Protestant banner ; and the princes of the Schmalkald league were 
standing at bay in the presence of Charles V. This assembly con- 
vened at a critical yet glorious era in the history of Protestantism. It 
met at the town of Chamforans, in the heart of the Valley of An- 
grogna, which occupied a strong and beautiful position. The sum- 
mits of Roccomaneot and La Serre stood as sentinels before it, and 
the approach to it was flanked by defiles, which alternately widen and 
contract, but are every-where overhung by great rocks and mighty 
chestnut trees, behind and above which rise the taller peaks, some 
of them snow-clad. The plateau on which the town stood is located 
a short distance beyond La Serre and overlooks the grassy bottom 
of the valley, which is watered by a crystal torrent, and dotted with 
numerous cJiaUts. This extends about two miles be}-ond, and is 
then shut in by the steep, naked precipices of the Barricade, which, 
stretching from side to side of Angrogna, leaves only the long dark 
chasm we have already described as the pathway to the Pra del Tor, 
whose majestic mountains here burst upon the vision of the traveler, 
suggesting the idea that he is approaching some city of celestial mag- 
nificence. The town of Chamforans has long since passed away, its 
only representative at this day being a solitary farm-house. 

The synod was in session six consecutive days. The assembled 



370 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

harbes and elders freely discussed the various points raised in the 
documents which were sent to them by the Protestant Churches, and 
the result of their deliberations was embodied in a "Short Confession 
of Faith," which Monastier says "may be considered as a supple- 
ment to the ancient Confession of Faith of the year 1120, which it 
does not contradict in any point." It is entitled, says Leger, "A 
Brief Confession of Faith made by the Pastors and Heads of Fami- 
lies of the Valleys of Piedmont;" and "is preserved," he adds, 
"with other documents in the library of the University of Cam- 
bridge." It consists of seventeen articles, the chief of which are the 
moral inability of man ; election to eternal life ; the will of God, as 
made known in the Bible, the only rule of duty ; and the doctrine of 
two sacraments only, baptism and the Lord's-supper. 

After the adjournment of the synod, the primitive spirit of the 
Waldenses revived. The fear of persecution, which had caused them 
to deny their faith, was now removed, and they began to confess Christ 
publicly instead of practicing cowardly concealments. Henceforward 
they were never seen at mass or in the popish churches, refusing to 
recognize the priests of Rome as ministers of Christ, and under no 
circumstances would they receive any spiritual benefit or service at 
their hands. Indeed, the lamp of truth, which had almost expired, 
commenced to burn with its former brightness, and the radiance 
infused a new life into the Vaudois, who, without delay, entered upon 
the work of rebuilding their churches. For fifty years previous there 
Avas really no public worship in their "Valleys." The inquisitor had 
razed their churches, and they feared to rebuild them, lest another 
storm of violence and blood should sweep them away. Often they 
gathered in a cave, and in more peaceful times converted the house 
of their harbe or of some of their chief men into a place of meeting. 
Then, again, when the weather was pleasant, they would assemble on 
the mountain-side, under the great boughs of their ancestral trees. 
But they dared not rebuild their old sanctuaries. In the language of 
of the ancient Jews they could exclaim, "The holy and beautiful 
house in which our fathers praised thee is burned with fire, and all 
our pleasant things are laid waste." The counsels and fellowship of 
their Protestant brethren encouraged them to erect churches and 
restore the worship of God. At Lorenzo, close to the place where 
the synod met, the first of these post-Reformation edifices was built ; 
others speedily followed in other valleys ; pastors were multiplied ; 
crowds flocked to their preaching, and many came from the plains of 
Piedmont, and from remote parts of their valleys. 



VISITORS FR OM S WITZERLAND. 3 7 1 

Another indication that a vigorous hfe was animating the old 
Church was its translation of the Bible into the French language. 
The synod adopted a resolution to translate and print both the Old 
and New Testaments, and, as the work was entirely performed by the 
Vaudois, it was properly regarded as their gift to the Churches of 
the Reformation. It was truly a most appropriate and noble gift. 
They had placed in the hands of the reformers that Book which their 
fathers had received from the early Church, and preserved with^their 
blood, and which their barbes had industriously transcribed and circu- 
lated. They, by this generous act, honored the Protestants of Ger- 
many and France in constituting them, along Avith themselves, the 
custodians of this, the ark of the world's hopes. Robert Olivetan, a 
near relative of Calvin, was requested to undertake the translation ; and 
he executed it, receiving assistance, as many believe, from his great 
kinsman. It was printed in folio, in black letter, at Neuchatel, 
A. D. 1535, by Pierre de Wingle, commonly called Picard. The 
Waldenses defrayed the entire expense, and collected for this 
object fifteen hundred crowns of gold, a large sum for that poor 
people. Thus at the beginning of this new era in her history, 
the Vaudois Church proclaimed that the Word of God was her only 
foundation. 

As we have previously stated, the Churches of French Switzer- 
land sent Farel and Saunier as a commission to the synod. Their 
zeal and courage were exhibited in making such a pilgrimage of toil 
and peril. It is difficult for one who crosses the Alps so easily at 
the present time to conceive tlie great labor and danger that attended 
the journey then. Fearing pursuit, the deputies could not travel the 
ordinary paths across the mountains, but were compelled to follow 
those but little known, which often led by the edge of precipices and 
abysses, up steep and dangerous ascents, and across fields of frozen 
snow. They were exposed to death from the blinding drifts and tem- 
pests of the mountains, enemies more to be dreaded than Romish pur- 
suers. In the providence of God they were preserved and reached 
the ''Valleys" in safety, contributing by their presence and advice to 
the dignity and influence of this, the first great ecclesiastical assembly 
of modern times. Three years thereafter a Vaudois, Jean Peyrel, of 
Angrogna, being cast into prison, deposed on his trial that he had 
"kept guard for the ministers who taught the good law, who were 
assembled in the town of Chamforans, in the center of Angrogna ;. 
and that, amongst others present, there was one called Farel, whO' 
had a red beard and a beautiful white horse ; and two others accom- 

25 



372 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

panied him, one of whom had a horse almost black, and the other 
was very tall and rather lame." 

For twenty-eight years the Church of the Alps had peace and 
great spiritual prosperity. In all her ''Valleys" sanctuaries arose; 
and, not having a sufficient number of pastors and teachers, she 
enlisted in her service men of learning and zeal, some of whom were 
from foreign lands. Her faith was embraced by individuals and fam- 
ilies in the cities on the plain of Piedmont; and her worship was 
attended by constantly increasing crowds. In fact, this venerable 
Church had a second youth. George Morel states in his Memoirs^ 
that, at this time, there were more than eight hundred thousand per- 
sons of the religion of the Vaudois. He includes, of course, in this 
estimate the Vaudois in the ''Valleys," on the plain of Piedmont, 
in Naples and Calabria, in the south of France, and in the countries 
of Germany. This ancient body of believers retrimmed its lamp, 
and it burned with a brightness that justified its time-honored motto: 
"A light shining in darkness." The darkness was not then so dense 
as it had been, because the hours of morning were approaching. The 
Vaudois were not the only source of light to Christendom at that 
period. Their Church was one of a constellation of lights which 
already irradiated the skies of Europe with an effulgence which no 
former age had known. 



Chapter XXIII. 

THE WALDENSIAN REMONSTRANCES. 

THE king of France made a demand upon the duke of Savoy, 
Charles III, that he would permit him to march an army 
through his territories. He refused to comply; but Francis I deter- 
mined to have a road into Italy. Accordingly he took possession of 
Piedmont by force, and it, together with the Waldensian Valleys, for 
twenty-three years, was held by him. The Waldenses found the 
sway of Francis I more tolerant than that of their own princes, for, 
though he hated heretics, the necessities of his policy often compelled 
him to court them, and, therefore, while he was burning Lutherans 
in Paris, he spared them in the "Valleys." But the general peace 
of Chateau Cambresis, April 3, A. D. 1559, restored Piedmont, with 
the exception of Turin, to its former rulers of the House of Savoy. 



PERSECUTION A T CARIGNANO. 373 

Charles III had been succeeded, A. D. 1553, by Emmanuel Philibert. 
The latter was a prince of superior talents and humane disposition, 
and the Vaudois cherished the hope that he would permit them to 
live in peace, and to w^orship as their fathers had done. Their expec- 
tations were greatly strengthened by the fact that Philibert had mar- 
ried a sister of the king of France, Henry II, who had been carefully 
instructed in the Protestant faith by her illustrious relations, Margaret, 
Queen of Navarre, and Renee, of France, daughter of Louis XII. 
But unfortunately the treaty, which restored Emmanuel Philibert to 
the throne of his ancestors, contained a clause binding the contract- 
ing parties to extinguish heresy. 

The king, moved by the counsels of his Protestant queen, had 
resolved to treat his subjects, the Vaudois, humanely; but he allowed 
himself to be ruled by men of stronger wills and more determined 
purposes. He was reminded of the terms of the agreement in the 
treaty of peace by the inquisitors of his kingdom, the nuncio of the 
pope, and the embassadors of Spain and France, who united in 
urging upon him the purgation of his dominions. The unhappy 
monarch, unable to resist these powerful appeals, issued an edict on 
the 15th of February, A. D. 1560, forbidding his subjects hearing 
the Protestant preachers in the valley of Lucerna or anywhere else, 
under a penalty of a fine of one hundred dollars of gold for the first 
offense, and of the galleys for life for the second. This proclamation 
had reference principally to the Protestants on the plain of Piedmont, 
who in crowds visited the ** Valleys" to attend Protestant services. 
In a short time, however, a severer edict followed, commanding 
attendance at mass under penalty of death. To enforce this cruel 
decree a commission was given to a prince of the blood, Philip of 
Savoy, count de Raconis, and with him were associated George Costa, 
count de la Trinita, and Thomas Jacomel, the inquisitor-general, 
who was both cruel in disposition and licentious in manners. Coun- 
cilor Corbis was added to the commission, but, after beholding a 
few initial scenes of barbarity and horror, he concluded that he was 
not qualified for such bloody work and accordingly resigned. 

The tempest of persecution first discharged its fury upon the town 
called Carignano, which sweetly reposes on one of the spurs of the 
Apennines, about twenty miles to the west of Turin. It contained 
many Protestants, some of whom occupied high social positions. 
The wealthiest were selected and dragged to the burning pile in order 
to terrify the rest. The result was satisfactory to the Inquisition. 
The professors of the Protestant faith in Carignano were scattered; 



3 74 11^^ L Y STRUG GLING INTO LIGHT. 

some fled to Turin, then under the domination of France, some to 
other places, and some, alas! frightened by the tempest in front, 
turned back and sought refuge in the darkness behind them. While 
they desired ''the better country," yet they could not enter in at the 
cost of exile and death. After desolating Carignano, the storm of 
human passion advanced across the plain of Piedmont towards those 
great mountains, which were the ancient fortress of the truth, leaving 
in its track through the villages and country communes, terror, pil- 
lage, and blood. It moved on like one of those thunder-clouds 
which the traveler on the Alps may often behold beneath him, trav- 
ersing the same plain, and shooting its lightnings earthwards as it 
advances. This cloud of Avrath descended upon every Vaudois con- 
gregation until, at last, it reached the foot of the Waldensian Alps, 
at the entrance of the "Valleys," within whose mighty natural bul- 
warks crowds of fugitives from the towns and villages on the plains 
have already found an asylum. Before the appearance of the crusaders 
at the entrance of the "Valleys," rumors of the arrests, confiscations, 
cruel tortures, and horrible deaths which had befallen the Churches 
at the foot of the mountains came to the Vaudois in the Alps. As 
a calamity was impending over them, the pastors and prominent lay- 
men assembled to deliberate on the steps to be taken. After fasting 
and humbling themselves before God they sought, by earnest prayer, 
the direction of the Holy Spirit. 

These noble people in the bosom of the Alps resolved to approach 
the throne of their prince, and by humble petition and remonstrance 
present the justice of their cause. Their first claim was to be heard 
before being condemned — a right always granted to the accused, 
however criminal. They next solemnly denied the principal charge 
made against them, that of renouncing the true faith and of adopting 
doctrines contrary to the Bible and the early ages of the Church. 
They declared that their faith was that which Christ himself had 
taught; which the apostles, following their Great Master, had 
preached; which the Fathers had vindicated with their pens and the 
martyrs with their blood, and which the first four councils had rat- 
ified and proclaimed to be the faith of the Christian world. They 
appealed to the Bible and all antiquity as witnesses to the fact that 
they had not abandoned the "old paths," but, from father to son, 
had continued for fifteen centuries to walk therein. They affirmed 
that no religious novelties lurked in their mountains; that they had 
not bowed the knee to strange gods ; and that, if they were heretics, 
so, too, were the first four councils, and so, too, the apostles them- 



STATEMENT OF THE VAUDOIS FAITH. 375 

selves. If they had erred, they beheved that they were in the com- 
pany of the confessors and martyrs of the early ages. They also 
expressed a willingness to appeal their cause at any moment to a 
general council, provided it would decide the question by the Bible, 
which was the only infallible standard. If on this evidence they 
should be convicted of even one heresy, they declared their readiness 
to surrender it. As this was the main point of their indictment, they 
asked what more they could promise. Show us, they said, what the 
errors are which you demand us to renounce under the penalty of 
death, and we will comply without any delay. The following elo- 
quent statement of their orthodoxy appears in Leger's account of 
the Vaudois Church at that time: "First, we do protest before the 
Almighty and all-just God, before whose tribunal we must all one 
day appear, that we intend to live and die in the holy faith, piety, 
and religion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that we do abhor all 
heresies that have been and are condemned by the Word of God. 
We do embrace the most holy doctrine of the prophets and apostles, 
as likewise of the Nicene and Athanasian creeds; we do subscribe to 
the four councils, and to all the ancient Fathers, in all such things 
as are not repugnant to the analogy of faith." 

The Vaudois in their remonstrance also assured the prince that 
their duty to God did not weaken their allegiance to him. Combin- 
ing loyalty and piety, they stood before his throne among the most 
faithful and devoted of his subjects. They asked him when they 
had ever plotted treason or opposed lawful authority? They informed 
him that the more they feared God the more they honored him, 
their earthly king, to whom belonged their services, their substance, 
and, in a certain sense, their life. While they were ready to employ 
all these in defending the prerogative of their sovereign, yet one 
thing they could not surrender — their conscience. Concerning their 
Roman Catholic fellow-subjects of Piedmont, they appealed to the 
prince whether they had not lived peaceably with them. They de- 
sired to know whom they had ever injured, robbed^ or defrauded, 
and whether they had not been kind, courteous, and honest. If their 
hills had been as fertile as the naturally richer plains at their feet, 
and, if their mountain-homes had been filled with an abundance of 
corn, oil, and wine, not always found in Piedmontese dwellings, they 
suggested that this, owing to their superior industry, frugality, and 
skill should not expose them to persecution. After directing the 
attention of the prince to the fact that no marauding expedition had 
ever descended from their hills to take the goods of their neighbors, 



376 ITAL V STJi UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

or to inflict retaliation for the many murders and robberies which 
they had not power to prevent, they asked why efforts were made 
to exterminate them, as if they were a horde of evil-doers and the 
terror of the community in which they lived. In conclusion, they 
desired to know why their sovereign should unsheathe the sword 
against those who had never disturbed his kingdom, nor plotted 
against his government, but who, on the contrary, had ever striven 
to maintain the authority of his law and the honor of his throne. **It 
is certain, most serene prince," said they, ''that the Word of God 
will not perish, but will abide forever. If, then, our religion is the 
pure Word of God, as we are persuaded it is, and not a human 
invention, no human power will be able to abolish it." 

There never was a more solemn, just, and respectful remonstrance 
presented to any throne. They were about to suffer a great wrong, 
yet the Vaudois did not utter an angry word or a single accusation 
against their enemies. But this solemn protest and triumphant vin- 
dication accomplished nothing except to make more manifest the 
gross injustice and flagrant wrong of the house of Savoy. The more 
completely and conclusively the Vaudois vindicated their true posi- 
tion the more the Romish Church appeared condemned ; but never- 
theless it determined the more resolutely to destroy the former. The 
remonstrance, which was addressed to "The Serene and most Mighty 
Prince, Philibert Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont, our 
most Gracious Lord," was accompanied by two others, one to the 
queen, and one to the council. The one to the queen was differently 
conceived from that to the prince. They offered no apology for their 
faith, because the queen herself accepted it. In a few touching 
terms they alluded to the sufferings which they had already expe- 
rienced, and to the yet greater that were impending. This was suffi- 
cient, they knew, to awaken all her sympathies, and secure her as 
their advocate with the king, after the example of Esther, and other 
noble women of former times, who did not use their lofty station to 
promote their own happiness and honor, but to protect the persecuted 
followers of the truth. In their address to the queen, the Vaudois 
call it ''The petition of her poor and humble subjects, the inhabitants 
of the valleys of Lucerna and Angrogna and Perosa and San Mar- 
tino, and all those of the plain who call purely upon the name of the 
Lord Jesus." 

The remonstrance presented to the council was written in terms 
more plain and direct, yet still respectful. The counselors of the king 
were warned against extreme measures, and notified that they would 



THE VAUDOIS MESSENGER. 377 

have to answer for every drop of innocent blood they should spill, be- 
ing reminded of the fact that the blood of Abel, though only that of 
one man, cried with a voice so loud that God heard it in heaven, and 
came down to reckon with the murderer. If this be true, declared 
the petitions, how much mightier would be the cry that would arise 
from the blood of a whole nation, and how much more terrible the 
vengeance with which it would be visited ! In a word, they stated 
to the council, that what they asked was not an unknown privilege 
in Piedmont, nor would they be the first or the only persons who 
had enjoyed that indulgence, if it should be extended to them. The 
Jew and the Saracen lived unmolested in their cities, the former 
building his synagogue, and the latter reading his Koran without 
annoyance or restraint. They appealed to the council to say whether 
the faith of the Bible should be placed on the same level in this 
respect with that of the Crescent, and whether the descendants of 
the men who for generations had been the subjects of the house 
of Savoy, and who had enriched the kingdom with their virtues and 
defended it with their blood, should be treated with the same hu- 
manity that was shown to the alien and the unbeliever. 



Chapter XXIV. 

THE PAPAL CRUSADE IN THE VALLEYS. 

THE confessors of the Alps resolved to send these petitions with- 
out delay to the proper quarter, and to wait for an answer with 
eyes lifted up to heaven ! If it should be one of peace, they would 
hail it with gratitude to God and to their prince. If the answer 
should be otherwise, they were prepared to accept that alternative, 
too, and yield themselves as a sacrifice for the truth. But who among 
them Avould undertake this dangerous service of taking the remon- 
strance to the duke ? M. Gilles, pastor of Bricherasio, a devoted and 
courageous man, volunteered to perform the duty. Another person 
accompanied him; but, unwilling to endure the insults he met with, 
he abandoned the mission, and Gilles pursued his journey alone. At 
that time the duke resided at Nice, for Turin, his capital, was still in 
the hands of the French, and the distance between the localities was 
great enough to expose the Vaudois messenger to many perils. He 
reached Nice in safety, however, and, after many difficulties and 



378 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

delays, had an interview with Queen Margaret, who consented to 
place the document, of which he was the bearer, in the hands of her 
husband, the duke. The deputy held a conversation also with Philip 
of Savoy, the duke's brother, and one of the commissioners under 
the **Act for the Purgation of the 'Valleys.' " He received the Wal- 
densian pastor cordially, and no doubt sympathized with his mission. 
In a short time he became disgusted with the bloody work of the 
Inquisition, and left the whole enterprise to be prosecuted by the 
cruel and bigoted Count La Trinita, his fellow-commissioner, with 
whom he had been unequally yoked. The heart of the queen was in 
the "Valleys," and she did not hesitate to advocate the cause of the 
poor Vaudoi^. But she stood alone as their intercessor with the duke, 
and might have prevailed, had not the prelates, the king of Spain^- 
and the pope drowned her voice by their solicitations and threats. 

The men of the "Valleys" impatiently waited for a decision from 
the court at Nice, and their enemies, athirst for plunder and blood, 
were equally anxious ; but for three months neither letter nor edict 
came. The agents of the Inquisition, unable to restrain their passions, 
commenced the work of persecution on their own account. They en- 
tertained no doubt concerning their sovereign's purposes, and accord- 
ingly anticipated them by inaugurating a reign of terror. The tocsin 
of war was rung out from the monastery of Pinerolo, which was situa- 
ted on the frontier of the "Valleys. " The monks of this establishment 
closely watched the heretics of the mountains, as vultures fix their 
eyes upon their prey, ever ready to sweep down upon hamlet or val- 
ley when they found it unguarded. They hired a troop of maraud- 
ers, whom they sent forth to pillage, and this band returned driving 
before them a wretched company of captives, whom they had dragged 
from their homes and vineyards in the mountains. They imprisoned 
the rich until they paid their ransom ; but the poor were either burned 
alive or sent to the galleys. Certain popish landlords in the valley 
of San Martino followed the example of the monks. The villagers of 
Rioclareto were attacked on the 2d of April, A. D. 1 560, before day- 
break by an armed band under the direction of the two seigneurs of 
Perrier. Some were slaughtered, and the rest were driven out with- 
out clothes or food, to perish on the snow-clad hills. After expelling 
them, the ruffians took possession of their dwellings, declaring that 
not one should enter them, unless he consented to attend mass ; but 
in three days they were compelled to retire, for four hundred Prot- 
estants of the valley of Clusone, hearing of the outrage, crossed the 
mountains, drove out the invaders, and reinstated their brethren. 



A MONK'S SERMON. 379 

Soon after, Philip of Savoy, count de Raconis, and chief com- 
missioner, appeared in the "Valleys." He was an earnest Roman 
Catholic, but a humane and upright man. One day he visited the 
Protestant church of Angrogna, and the sermon produced such a 
favorable impression upon his mind, that he obtained from the pastor 
an outline of the Vaudois faith, which he sent to Rome, hoping that 
the pope would cease to persecute a creed containing so little heresy. 
But the reigning pontiff, Pius IV, thought differently, and beheld 
mountains of error, where the honest count de Raconis saw only 
mole-hills. The latter proposed that a discussion with the Walden- 
sian pastors should be held, but the former would not permit it. He 
condescended, however, to absolve '*from their past crimes" all who 
were willing to enter the Church of Rome. This action of the pope, 
no doubt, discouraged Philip of Savoy ; but he did not abandon his 
idea of conciliation. In June, A. D. 1560, he visited the valley of 
Lucerna a second time, accompanied by his colleague, La Trinita, 
and, assembling the pastors and heads of families, he informed them 
that the persecution would cease immediately, provided they would 
consent to hear the preachers he had brought with him — "The Broth- 
ers of the Christian Doctrine." He also proposed that the Walden- 
sian ministers should be silenced while his were discoursing. The 
Vaudois consented, with this provision, that the Romish teachers 
should preach the pure Gospel ; but, in case they taught human 
traditions, the agreement should be considered withdrawn. In a few 
days after, the trial of the new expositors occurred. The ablest 
among them was selected and sent into the pulpit to address the Vau- 
dois congregation. He secured their attention in a very effectual 
manner, which is described by Muston in his "Israel of the Alps:" 
"I will demonstrate to you," said he, "that the mass is found in the 
Scripture. The word massah signifies 'sent,' does it not?" "Not 
precisely," replied his hearers, who understood Hebrew better than 
the preacher. "The primitive expression," continued he, ^'Itcniissa 
est was employed to dismiss the auditory, ,was it not?" "That is 
quite true," replied his hearers, without discerning very clearly the 
relation of the statement to the argument. "Well, then you see, 
gentlemen, that the mass is found in the Holy Scripture." The con- 
gregation could not determine whether he was conducting a discus- 
sion with them, or simply laughing at them. 

The duke of Savoy, enraged at the obduracy of the Waldenses, 
declared war against them in October, A. D. 1560. Early in that 
month the dreadful rumor reached the "VaUeys" that he was pre- 



3 8o ITAL Y STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

paring to exterminate them. The report was, indeed, too true. In 
levying an army, the duke offered a free pardon to all ** outlaws, 
convicts, and vagabonds" who would enroll as volunteers to fight 
against the Vaudois. Soon the forces, formidable in numbers, and 
truly terrible in character, were assembled, and the total destruction 
of the men of the ** Valleys" seemed inevitable. The pastors and 
prominent laymen came together to deliberate on the measures to be 
adopted at this fearful crisis. Trusting in God alone as their refuge, 
they resolved to take no means for deliverance which might be 
offensive to him or dishonorable to themselves. The pastors were 
requested to exhort every one to call upon God with true faith, sin- 
cere repentance, and ardent prayer. No defensive measures were 
recommended ; but each family was urged to collect their provisions, 
clothes, utensils, and herds, and be ready at a moment's notice to 
convey them, together with all infirm persons, to their strongholds 
in the mountains. Meanwhile the duke's army — if such a horde of 
Piedmontese ruffians could be so called — came nearer every day. 
On the 31st of October a proclamation was posted throughout the 
valley of Angrogna, calling on the inhabitants to return to the bosom 
of the " Mother Church," under penalty of extermination by fire and 
sword. Oii the day following, the 1st of November, the papal army 
appeared at Bubiana, on the right bank of the Pellice, at the entrance 
to the Waldensian valleys. Scipio Lentullus, pastor of San Giovanni, 
states in a letter published by Leger that the host numbered four 
thousand infantry and two hundred horse, comprising, besides the 
desperadoes that formed its main body, a few veterans, who had seen 
hard service in the wars with France. 

When the enemy appeared in sight the Vaudois humbled them- 
selves before God in a public fast, and then celebrated together the 
sacrament of the Lord's-supper. These religious services imparted 
strength to their souls, and prepared them to execute the measures 
previously resolved on. The old men and the women proceeded to 
climb the mountains, and awakened the echoes with the psalms which 
they sung on their way to the Pra del Tor, within whose natural 
ramparts of rock and snow-crowned peaks they sought asylum. The 
Vaudois population of the "Valleys" at that time was not more than 
eighteen thousand, and their armed men did not exceed twelve hun- 
dred, but they were distributed at various passes and barricades to 
oppose the enemy, who was now near. 

The Piedmontese army commenced to move on the 2d of Novem- 
ber, crossed the Pellice, and proceeded along the narrow defile that 



PANIC IN LA TRINITA'S CAMP. 38 1 

leads up to the ** Valleys," the heights of Bricherasio on the right 
and the spurs of Monte Friolante on the left standing as sentinels, 
while the lofty masses of the Vandalin and Castaluzzo towered in 
front. The Piedmontese encamped in the meadows of San Giovanni, 
near the point where the Val di Lucerna and the Val di Angrogna 
divide, the former expanding into a noble breadth of meadow and 
vineyard, running on between magnificent mountains, with their rich 
clothing of pastures, chestnut groves, and chalets, until it ends in 
the savage pass of Mirabouc ; and the latter, to wind and climb in a 
grand" succession of precipice and gorge and grassy dell, until it 
issues in the funnel-shaped valley, around which the ice -crowned 
mountains stand in solemn grandeur. La Trinita first entered the 
Val di Angrogna, taking with him twelve hundred men, the wings 
of his army deploying over its neighboring heights of La Cotiere. 
His soldiers were opposed by only a small body of Vaudois, some 
of whom were armed solely with the sling and the cross-bow. The 
Vaudois skirmished with the foe, at the same time retiring to the 
higher grounds. When the day closed neither side could claim a 
decided advantage. Both armies, wearied with skirmishing, en- 
camped for the night — the Vaudois on the heights of Roccomaneot, 
and the Piedmontese, with their camp-fires lighted, on the lower hills 
of La Cotiere. The silence of the evening was suddenly startled by 
a derisive shout from the Piedmontese host. 

Beholding on the heights above them the bending forms of the 
Waldensian warriors, who on their knees were supplicating the God 
of battles, their adversaries saluted them with exclamations of con- 
tempt. Scarcely had these insulting sounds died away, when the 
sound of a drum was heard in a side valley. A child had found the 
instrument, and was amusing itself with it. The soldiers of La 
Trinita saw, in imagination, a fresh body of Waldensians advancing 
from the defiles to rush upon them. In the greatest disorder they 
seized their arms, and the Vaudois, beholding the movement of the 
enemy, seized theirs also, and hastily descended the hill to anticipate 
the attack. The Piedmontese were panic-stricken, and, throwing 
away their arms, fled in confusion, pursued by the Waldenses, thus 
losing in half an hour the ground it had cost them a day's fighting 
to gain. The Vaudois were in need of weapons, and gladly availed 
themselves of those which the fugitives abandoned. As the result 
of the day's combat La Trinita lost sixty-seven men, and the Vaudois 
only three. On the left of La Trinita was the entrance to the valley 
of Lucerna, covered with corn-fields and vineyards, and, with its 



382 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

towns, La Torre, Villaro, Bobbio, and others, forming the noblest 
of the Waldensian valleys. La Trinita, with his soldiers, occupied 
this, an achievement comparatively easy, as nearly all the inhabitants 
had fled to the Pra del Tor. Those who remained were mostly Ro- 
manists that were then mixed with the Waldensian population, and 
even they had sent their wives and daughters to the Pra del Tor, in 
company with their Vaudois neighbors, to protect them from the 
brutal outrages of the papal army. On the following days La Trinita 
had some small engagements with the Vaudois, in all of which he 
was repulsed with considerable slaughter. 

The papal leader now began to appreciate the arduous nature of 
the work he had in hand. He discovered that the mountaineers 
were courageous, and determined to die rather than submit their 
conscience to the pope and their families to the passions of his sol- 
diers. He saw, moreover, that they were a simple and confiding 
people, entirely ignorant of the ways of deception and intrigue. La 
Trinita was delighted to find these qualities in them, because he be- 
lieved that they might be used to accomplish his purposes. He 
employed men as cunning and degraded as himself — Jacomel, the 
inquisitor, and Gastaud, his secretary, who pretended to be a Prot- 
estant. After they had arranged the programme, La Trinita assem- 
bled the prominent men of the Waldenses, and repeated to them 
some flattering Avords which he had heard, or professed to have 
heard, the duke and duchess make use of towards them. He then 
assured them that he was engaged in a distasteful enterprise, which 
he would gladly abandon, and that peace could be easily secured if 
they, as reasonable men, would only make a few small concessions. 
This suggestion was followed by a proposition that they should 
deposit their arms in the house of one of their syndics, and permit 
him, for form's sake, to go with a small train and celebrate mass in 
the church of St. Laurenzo in Angrogna, and afterwards visit the 
Pra del Tor. The Waldenses devoted the whole night to the consid- 
eration of the count's proposal, and accepted it, contrary to the 
opinion of their pastors and some of their laymen. La Trinita had 
formed a correct estimate of the confiding nature of the Vaudois. 
Having performed mass in the Protestant church, he traversed the 
gloomy defiles that lead up to the famous Pra, whose green slopes, 
with their snowy battlements, he was so anxious to behold, though it 
is said that he manifested some fear when he passed the dark pool of 
Tompie, with its memories of retribution. After safely accomplishing 
these feats he returned to complete his programme of deception. 



AFFECTING INCIDENTS. 383 

The papal general, therefore, resumed the efforts which he had 
previously made to establish peace. The duke had now approached 
nearer, and was residing at Vercelli, on the plain of Piedmont. 
La Trinita advised the Vaudois to send deputies thither, and also 
raise a sum of twenty thousand crowns, which w^ould strengthen 
their supplication, if not insure its success. He proposed, on the 
payment of the money, to withdraw his forces and leave them to 
practice their religion in peace. The Waldenses, not expecting such 
a betrayal of confidence as subsequently characterized the papal gen- 
eral, made concession after concession. Having previously laid down 
their arms, then sent deputies to the duke, and next bought off his 
soldiers by taxing themselves, they, last and worst of all, at the 
demand of La Trinita, had dismissed their pastors. At that season 
of the year a journey across the Col Julien was a perilous undertak- 
ing, but this sorrowful band of God's faithful servants were compelled 
to perform it. Climbing the snowy summits, where the Winter drifts 
were continually obliterating the track and piling up fresh wreaths, 
and pursuing their way across the valleys of Prali and San Martino 
and over the ice-clad mountains beyond, they sought refuge among 
the Protestants in the French valley of Pragelas. The more direct 
road through the valley of Perosa was closed by the marauders and 
assassins that infested it, and especially by those who were hired by 
the monks of Pinerolo, and consequently the banished pastors were 
forced fo take a more dangerous and difficult route. The heartless 
count, believing that he now had the poor people entirely in his 
power, sent his soldiers to pillage the houses abandoned by the 
Vaudois. 

The few inhabitants remaining, as well as those who returned, 
supposing hostilities W'Ould be suspended during the negotiations for 
peace, endeavored to escape a second time, and to seek concealment 
in the woods and caves of the higher reaches of the "Valleys." It 
is impossible correctly to describe the outrages committed by the 
ruffians who had possession of the valley of Lucerna. A touching 
incident has been recorded by the historian Gilles. A helpless man, 
one hundred and three years of age, was placed in a cave, and his 
granddaughter, a girl of seventeen, was left to take care of him. 
The papal soldiers discovered his hiding-place, cruelly murdered the 
old man and offered outrage to his granddaughter. She fled from the 
brutal pursuit of the soldiers, leaped over a precipice, and perished. 
In another instance, one of La Trinita's soldiers chased an old man 
to the brink of a precipice, and the latter being compelled to choose 



384 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

death either by his own act or by the sword of his pursuer, soon 
made a decision. He halted, turned his face, and fell upon his knees 
as if to supplicate for his life. The soldier was raising his sword 
to strike him dead, when the Vaudois, clasping him tightly round the 
legs, and swaying himself backwards with all his might, rolled over 
the precipice, dragging the soldier with him into the abyss. 

Part of the money promised to La Trinita by the Waldenses had 
been paid to him, but the poor people were under the necessity of 
seUing their herds in order to meet their obligation. The count now 
withdrew his army into Winter-quarters at Cavour, a point so near 
the ''Valleys" that he could re-enter them at any moment by a few 
hours' march. He destroyed the corn, oil, and wine which he could 
not carry away, and even demolished the mills. His plan was to 
compel the Vaudois to either submit or die of hunger on their mount- 
ains. To afflict them yet more grievously he placed garrisons at 
different points in the ''Valleys," and, in the most tyrannical manner, 
required those who themselves were without bread to provide food 
for his soldiers. These ruffians were continually prowling about in 
search of victims on whom to gratify their cruelty and their lust. 
Whoever was dragged into their den experienced unspeakable suffer- 
ings — if men, excruciating torture; if women, revolting outrage. 

The Waldenses patiently endured these terrible inflictions in 
the hope that the deputies, whom they had sent to the duke, 
would return with an honorable peace. At last, after ^an ab- 
sence of six weeks, the commissioners reappeared in the "Val- 
leys;" but their sad countenances, even before they had spoken a 
word, indicated that their mission had been a failure. They had 
been sent back with an order demanding of the Vaudois uncondi- 
tional submission to the Roman Catholic authority on pain of exter- 
mination. At that moment a more powerful army was being raised 
to enforce, to the fullest extent, that order. The alternative now 
presented to them was the acceptance of the mass or universal 
slaughter. This crisis aroused the people. Rather than thus dis- 
grace their ancestors, imperil their own souls, and entail a heritage 
of slavery on their children they would, if necessary, die a thousand 
times. Their despondency was gone ; they were as men who had 
awakened from heavy sleep ; their martial spirit revived, and they 
found their arms. Their first step was to recall their pastors, the 
next to rebuild their fallen churches, and their third to resume pub- 
lic services in them. Daily their courage increased, and once more 
joy illuminated their faces. They were also encouraged by letters 



THE VAUDOIS COVENANT. 385 

of sympathy, and promises of assistance from their fellow-Protestants 
of Geneva, Dauphine, and France. Persecution at that hour impended 
over the two latter countries, but their own danger made them all 
the more ready to help their brethren of the ** Valleys." ** There- 
upon," says Muston, the historian, "took place one of those grand 
and solemn scenes, which, at once heroic and religious, seem rather 
adapted for an epic poem than for grave history." 

The Waldenses of Lucerne sent deputies across the mountains, then 
covered to a great depth with snow, to propose an alliance with the 
Protestants of the valley of Pragelas, who were at that time threatened 
by their sovereign, Francis I. The poor persecuted inhabitants gladly 
accepted the proposition. The deputies assembled on a plateau of 
snow, facing the mountains of Sestri^res and the chain of the Guine- 
vert, and swore to stand by each other in the coming struggle. It was 
also agreed that this oath of alliance should be sworn with a like solem- 
nity in the Waldensian valleys. The deputies from Pragelas crossed 
the Mount Julien and arrived at Bobbio on the 2ist of January, 
A. D. 1 561. They came at a singularly opportune moment. On the 
evening before a ducal proclamation had been published in the ** Val- 
leys," commanding the Vaudois, within twenty-four hours to attend 
mass, or suffer the consequences — *'fire, sword, the cord; the three 
arguments of Romanism," says Muston. This fact was announced 
to the Pragelese deputies immediately on their arrival ; but, instead 
of being discouraged, they proceeded with all the more enthusiasm 
to renew their oath. Ascending a low hill behind Bobbio, the depu- 
ties from Pragelas, and those from Lucerne, standing erect in the 
midst of the assembled heads of families, who kneeled around, pro- 
nounced these words : 

*'In the name of the Vaudois Churches of the Alps, of Dau- 
phine, and of Piedmont, which have ever been united, and of which 
we are the representatives, we here promise, our hands on our Bible, 
and in the presence of God, that all* our valleys shall courageously 
sustain each other in matters of religion, without prejudice to the 
obedience due to their legitimate superiors. We promise to main- 
tain the Bible, whole and without admixture, according to the usage 
of the true apostolic Church, persevering in this holy religion, 
though it be at the peril of our life, in order that we may transmit 
it to our children intact and pure as we received it from our fathers. 
We promise aid and succor to our persecuted brothers, not regarding 
our individual interests, but the common cause ; and not relying upon 
man, but upon God." 



386 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 



This event, so full of moral sublimity, occurred in a locality of 
physical grandeur. The green bosom of the valley was calmly spread 
out immediately beneath, with here and there the silvery waters 




of the Pellice gleaming out amid vineyards and acacia groves. An 
array of majestic mountains, white with the snows of Winter, filled 
the horizon on all sides except one, the grand peaks of the Col de 



THE SIGNIFICANT DECISION 387 

Malure and the Col de la Croix being conspicuous among them. 
They seemed to be silent witnesses of the oath taken by a heroic 
people, pledging themselves to die rather than permit their hearths 
to be defiled and their altars to be profaned by idolatrous, tyran- 
nical hordes. Thus grandly did the Waldensians open one of the 
most brilliant campaigns in their history. On the following morning, 
according to the duke's order, they would be compelled to decide 
whether to attend mass or accept the consequences of refusal. The 
Romish authorities had prepared a neighboring church, one of those 
which had been taken from the Vaudois, and it was now ready with 
altar decked and tapers lighted, for the Protestants to hear their first 
mass. Scarcely had the day dawned, when the expected penitents 
were at the church door. Entering the building, they resolved to 
show the duke how they intended to read recantation. For a moment 
they stood and surveyed the scene, and, beholding the strange trans- 
formation their church had undergone, they began to extinguish the 
tapers, demolish the images, and cast out into the street the rosary, 
crucifix, and all the other paraphernalia of popish worship. Only a 
few minutes were required to perform this Avork of renovation. The 
minister, Humbert Artus, then ascended the pulpit, and reading out 
as his text, Isaiah xlv, 20 — ** Assemble yourselves and come; draw 
near together ye that are escaped of the nations ; they have no 
knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray 
unto a God that can not save " — preached a sermon which struck the 
key-note of the campaign then opening. 

Rushing down like their own Winter torrents into Lucerne, the 
inhabitants of the hamlets and chalets in the mountains re-enforced the 
army of the Vaudois, which advanced toward Villaro to purge the 
temple there. While on their march, they encountered the Piedmon- 
tese garrison, which they attacked and drove back, the monks, seign- 
eurs, and magistrates, who had come to receive the abjuration of the- 
heretics, accompanying the troops in their ignominious flight. The 
whole band of fugitives — soldiers, priests, and judges — shut themselves 
up in the town of Villaro, which was now besieged by the Vaudois. 
The garrison from La Torre made three efforts to raise the siege, but 
were repulsed. At last, on the tenth day, the garrison surrendered,, 
and their lives were spared, two Waldensian pastors accompanying, 
them to La Torre, as the soldiers expressed greater confidence in 
them than any other escort. When La Trinita ascertained that his^ 
garrison had been driven out, he moved his army from Cavour intO' 

the ''Valleys," and endeavored again to sow dissensions among the 

26 



388 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Vaudois, by entangling them in negotiations for peace ; but they had 
now learned the value of his promises, and, disregarding them, im- 
proved ""every hour in preparing for defense. They labored with the 
zeal of men who believed that their cause was a great and righteous one, 
for which they were willing to sacrifice every thing. They erected 
barricades, planted ambushes, and appointed signals to telegraph 
the movements of the enemy from post to post. ''Every house," 
says Muston, "became a manufactory of pikes, bullets, and other 
weapons." They selected the best marksmen that could be found in 
their ** Valleys," and organized them into the ''Flying Company," 
whose duty it was to hasten to the most dangerous point. Two 
pastors were assigned to each body of fighting men to maintain the 
morale of their army, and conducted, public worship morning and 
evening, praying with the soldiers before going into battle ; and at 
its close, when the Vaudois were chasing the enemy down their great 
mountains and through their dark gorges, endeavoring to prevent any 
unnecessary effusion of blood. 

La Trinita was convinced that the subjugation of the "Valleys," 
and the successful termination of the campaign, depended upon the 
capture of the Pra del Tor, into which vast natural citadel the main 
body of the Waldensian people was now gathered. Thither they 
had transported the remnant of their provisions and herds ; there 
they had constructed mills and baking-ovens ; there, too^ their coun- 
cil sat, and directed the whole operations of the defense. If a blow 
could be struck there, the Vaudois's heart Avould be crushed, and 
that which the Waldenses regarded as their impregnable castle would 
be converted into their tomb. The papal general, meanwhile, re- 
solved to defer the chastisement of the other valleys, and to direct 
all his efforts against Angrogna. On the 4th of Februar}-, A. D. 
1 561, he made the first attempt to enter it with his army; but, after 
fighting an entire day, he was repulsed. Three days subsequently 
he made another effort and advanced a considerable distance into 
Angrogna, burning and ravaging ; but this partial triumph was a 
costly one, and the ground already won had ultimately to be aban- 
doned. The severest struggle occurred on the 14th of February. 
La Trinita employed all his strategy to capture the much coveted 
Pra del Tor, and all in it, and, dividing his army into three corps, he 
advanced against it from three points. One body of troops marched 
along the gorges of the Angrogna, traversed the narrow chasm that 
leads up to the Pra, and attacked it on the south. Another body 
ascended the heights from Pramol, crossed the snowy flanks of La 



THE INVADERS DISCOMFITED. 389 

Vechera, and endeavored to force an entrance on the east; while a 
third, starting from San Martino, climbed the lofty summits that sur- 
round the Pra on the north, and descended upon it from that quarter. 
The papal leader confidently expected that if his soldiers failed to 
force an entrance at one point, they would surely succeed at another. 

As no scout had warned them of approaching danger, the Wal- 
denses were performing their morning devotions in the grand sanc- 
tuary of their valley, with ice-crowned peaks for its towers. Sud- 
denly they heard the cries of fugitives, and the sliouts of assailants, 
proceeding from the narrow chasm on the south, and also beheld 
the smoke of burning hamlets. Of the three points of attack, this 
was the easiest to be defended, and six brave Waldensian youths has- 
tened down the valley to oppose La Trinita's soldiers. What could 
six do against an army? The answer may be found in Deut. xxxii, 
30: "How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand 
to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut 
them up?" The soldiers were approaching by a long, gloomy road, 
overhung with large rocks, and so narrow that only two men can 
march abreast. The mountain rises abruptly on one side, and far 
down on the other thunders the foaming torrent, and a ledge in the 
steep face of the cliff running here in the darkness, there in the sun- 
shine, serves as a pathway, which leads to Avhat is called the gate of 
the Pra. That opening is formed by an angle of the mountain, which 
obtrudes upon the narrow ledge on the one side, while an immense 
rock rises on the other, rendering the point of ingress into the Pra still 
smaller. Having placed a mountain on the right and a yawning gulf 
on the left. Nature erected the only gateway through which either 
friend or foe can be admitted to the Pra del Tor on the south. It 
was here that the six Waldensian warriors took their stand, immova- 
ble as their own Alps. According to the historian Monastier, they 
not only checked, the advance of the enemy, but drove them back 
in a panic-stricken mass, which made the precipices of the defile 
doubly fatal. They would have received aid, had not danger sud- 
denly appeared in another direction. Looking to the heights of La 
Vechera, they beheld an armed host crossing the snow and entering 
the valley on the east. Before they could descend they were met by 
the Waldenses, who dispersed and put them to flight. Thus two of 
La Trinita's attacking parties were defeated. 

While the Waldenses were pursuing the discomfited enemy on La 
Vechera, they saw yet another armed troop, which had climbed the 
mountains that separate the Val San Martino from the Pra del Tor 



390 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

on the north, and were descending upon them. The alarm was im- 
mediately raised, but only a few men could be spared to resist the 
invaders. These Waldensian warriors lay in ambush at the mouth of 
a defile, through which the enemy were marching down into the 
Pra. The latter, emerging from the narrow pass, and beholding the 
lovely valley beneath them, exclaimed, "Haste, haste! Angrogna is 
ours." The Vaudois rushed upon them, sword in hand, crying out, 
''It is you that are ours." The Piedmontese soldiers, trusting to 
their superior numbers, fought desperately ; but the Waldenses, in a 
few minutes, hastened from other points, where victory had crowned 
their arms, and rendered timely aid to their brethren. The invaders, 
attacked on all sides, turned and fled up the slopes they had just 
descended. Many were slain and not a man of them would have 
recrossed the mountains had not the pastor of the "Flying Com- 
pany " elevated his voice to the highest pitch, and entreated the pur- 
suers to spare the lives of those who could no longer resist. 

Among the slain was Charles Truchet, who so cruelly ravaged 
the commune of Rioclaret a few months before. He was prostrated 
on the ground by a stone from a sling, and his head was cut off 
with his own sword. Another celebrated persecutor of the Vaudois, 
named Louis de Monteuil, perished in the same conflict. These 
repulses so enraged Count La Trinita that he attacked the almost 
defenseless valley of Rora, burning its little town and driving away 
its population of eighty families, who escaped over the snows of the 
mountains to Villaro, in the valley of Lucerne. He next invaded that 
valley with his soldiers, and though, at the time, it was almost de- 
populated, the remaining peasants again and again defeated the papal 
general, compelled him to retreat to his old quarters at Cavour, and 
thus afforded him the opportunity to meditate upon his misfortunes, 
and devise new stratagems, which he ardently hoped would retrieve 
his disgraces. 

La Trinita spent a month in re-enforcing his army, now greatly 
reduced and weakened by the losses it had sustained. The king of 
France sent him ten companies of foot, and some other choice sol- 
diers, while Spain contributed a regiment, and Piedmont numerous 
volunteers, comprising many of the nobility. The papal army had 
now increased from four thousand — its original number — to seven 
thousand, and its commander felt confident that, with such a force, 
he was able to begin a third campaign, which would result in wiping 
out the disgrace of the others, and in eradicating from the earth, at 
on-ce and forever, the great scandal of the Waldenses. Regarding 



EXTINCTION OF LA TRINITA'S HOST 391 

Angrogna as the heart and bulwark of the Valleys, he again directed 
all his efforts against it. It was Sunday, the 17th of March, A. D. 
1 561. The Vaudois had assembled in the Pra del Tor on the morn- 
ing of that day, soon after dawn, to unite in their customary public 
devotions. The first rays of the rising sun were beginning to brighten 
the snowy crown of the mountains around them, and the last caden- 
ces of their morning psalm were dying away on the grassy slopes of 
the Pra, when the sudden announcement was made that the enemy 
was approaching by three routes. One body of armed men appeared 
on the ridges of the eastern summits; another was marching up the 
chasm, and, in a {^\n minutes, would pour itself through the gateway, 
already described, into the Pra, while a third was forcing itself over 
the rocks by a path intermediate between the two. Instantly the 
enemy was confronted at every point of approach. The line of 
glittering cuirassed men, who were defiling through the narrow gorge, 
was repulsed by a handful of Waldensians. 

At the other two points, where bastions of rock and earth had 
been erected, severe fighting occurred, and the dead lay thick upon 
the ground. The invaders w^ere defeated on every side, and some of 
their ablest captains were among the slain. It is said that so great 
was the number of soldiers killed that, when Count La Trinita beheld 
the heaps of the dead, he sat down and wept. The Waldenses 
might have pursued those who escaped, and, being so much better 
acquainted with the mountain-paths, could have exterminated them, 
leaving not one of all that host to convey the tidings of its discom- 
fiture to the inhabitants of Piedmont. The Waldensian pastors had 
resolved at the commencement of the campaign that they would use 
with moderation and clemency whatever victories the "God of 
battles" might be pleased to give them, and that they would shed 
no blood unless when absolutely necessary to prevent their own being 
shed. Hence they restrained their victorious warriors and were satis- 
fied with the triumph already won. As in former contests, the 
Piedmontese lost many more men than the Vaudois, so much so that 
it was currently said, in the cities of Piedmont, that the **God was 
fighting for the barbets." 

The papal commander, more deeply humiliated and disgraced 
than ever, returned to his old quarters with the remnant of his army. 
He no doubt regretted that he had ever invaded the Waldensian 
territory, because, in addition to his own ignominious failure, he had 
sacrificed many of the nobles of Piedmont, whose bones were now 
bleaching on the mountains of the Vaudois. But he was slow in 



392 ITAL Y STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

learning- the proper lesson from these calamitous events, and actually 
entertained the design of returning to attack that fatal valley where 
he had lost so many laurels and buried so many soldiers. Conceal- 
ing his purpose, he waited for a favorable opportunity. The men of 
the "Valleys" and the duke of Savoy had opened negotiations which 
were proceeding satisfactorily. La Trinita, taking advantage of this 
circumstance, hastily assembled his troops, and, on the night of the 
1 6th of April, he marched them against the Pra del Tor, hoping to 
enter it unopposed and give the Vaudois "as sheep to the slaugh- 
ter." The light of the morning was beginning to shine upon the 
snowy ranges around the Pra when the people, who had just con- 
cluded their united worship, were startled by unusual sounds issuing 
from the gorge that led into the valley. Six brave mountaineers 
immediately rushed to the gateway that opens from the gorge. They 
made their arrangements and calmly waited for the appearance of 
the enemy. The first two Vaudois, holding loaded muskets, knelt 
down. The second two stood erect, ready to fire over the heads of 
the first two. The third two undertook the loading of the weapons 
as they were discharged. 

The long file of La Trinita's advanced two abreast, their helmets 
and cuirasses glittering in the light. As the first two of the enemy 
turned the rock they were shot down by the two foremost Vaudois. 
The next two of the attacking force fell in like manner by the shot 
of the Vaudois in the rear. The third rank of the enemy met the 
same fate and was laid by the side of their comrades. The pass was 
filled up in a few minutes with a small heap of dead bodies, which 
prevented the advance of the accumulating mass of Piedmontese sol- 
diers in the chasm. \\\ the meanwhile other Vaudois, climbing the 
mountain that overhangs the gorge in*which the invading host was 
imprisoned, and tearing up the great stones with which the hill-side 
was strewn, rolled them down upon the soldiers, who, checked by 
the wall of dead in front, and prevented from retreating by the ever- 
accumulating file behind, were crushed in dozens by the falling rocks. 
A panic, dreadful in such a position, ensued. Leger describes the 
scene, which no doubt was terrible. Wedged together on the narrow 
ledge, with a murderous rain of stones descending upon them, they 
struggled to escape. Jostling one another, and treading each other 
under foot, many perished, while vast numbers fell over the precipice 
and were dashed on the rocks or drowned in the torrent. There 
were some at the entrance of the valley who watched the result of 
the contest, and when they beheld the crystal waters of the Angrogna 



''ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION:' 393 

begin about noon to change into blood, they exclaimed: "Ah! the 
Pra del Tor has been taken .; La Trinita has triumphed ; there flows 
the blood of the Vaudois." Indeed, it is said that the papal general, 
in commencing his march that morning, boasted that, by the middle 
of the day, the torrent of the Angrogna would change its color; and 
this it truly did. The stream, naturally pellucid, glides along at the 
mouth of the valley, over its white gravelly bed ; but now it appears 
different — deeply dyed from recent slaughter. When the few who 
succeeded in escaping the catastrophe returned to relate the result 
of that day's conflict, it was then ascertained that it was not the 
blood of the Vaudois, but that of their ruthless enemies, which dyed 
the waters of the Angrogna. La Trinita withdrew on the same night 
with his army to return no more to the *' Valleys." 

The duke of Savoy resolved to resume negotiations again with 
the Waldenses, not this time through the Count La Trinita, but 
through Philip of Savoy, count of Raconis. Finding that he could 
not conquer the men of the '* Valleys, " the duke of Savoy did not 
win meritorious distinction in making peace with them. The matter 
was speedily brought to a satisfactory issue, and the capitulation was 
signed on the 5th of June, A. D. 1561. Its first clause granted an 
indemnity for all offenses which had been suffered — not committed. 
Leger gives the ''Articles of Capitulation" in full, and we learn from 
them that the Vaudois were permitted to erect churches in their 
''Valleys," with the exception of two or three of their towns, to 
conduct public worship, and, in short, to celebrate all the offices of 
their religion. All the "ancient franchises, immunities, and priv- 
ileges, whether conceded by his highness or by his highness's pre- 
decessors," were renewed, provided they were vouched by public 
documents. Thus closed this cruel war of fifteen months, and the 
Vaudois attributed the favorable terms of its settlement to the influ- 
ence of the good Duchess Margaret. The pope, however, called it 
a "pernicious example," which he feared might be imitated in those 
days when the love of many to the Roman See was "waxing cold." 
It was highly offensive to the monks and prelates of Piedmont, to 
whom the heretics had been a free booty. Nevertheless, Duke Em- 
manuel Philibert faithfully maintained its stipulations, the duchess 
being by his side to counteract any pressure in the opposite direction. 
The prevalence of peace and the dawn of Summer slowly effaced the 
deep scars which persecution had left on the "Valleys." This brave 
and afflicted people were greatly consoled and strengthened by the 
sympathy and aid extended to them by Protestants abroad, particu- 



394 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

larly by Calvin and the Elector Palatine, the latter addressing a 
spirited letter to the duke on behalf of his persecuted subjects. 

All through these terrible conflicts the Vaudois exhibited a noble 
spirit of devotion, indicating their unshaken confidence in God. 
While their ''Valleys" resounded with the din of arms they were 
also vocal with prayer and praise. The papal soldiers came from 
carousing, from blaspheming, from murdering, to engage in battle ; 
the Waldenses rose from their knees to unsheathe the sword and 
wield it in a cause which they firmly believed to be that of Him to 
whom they had bent in supplication. When their little army went 
to the field to meet the enemy their barbes always accompanied it, to 
inspire the warriors by proper exhortations before they rushed into 
battle, and to moderate their vengeance, which in the hour of tri- 
umph might become so fierce that it would diminish the glory of 
their victory. When their soldiers hastened to the defile or to the 
bastion the pastors assembled on the mountain's slope or on its 
summit, and there, with uplifted hands, supplicated help from the 
"Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." After the 
conflict had ceased, and the enemy were in flight, and the victors 
had returned from chasing them from the "Valleys," the gray-haired 
pastors, the lion-hearted men of battle, the matrons, the maidens, 
the striplings, and the little children would assemble in the Pra del 
Tor, and "while the setting sun," as Dr. Wylie eloquently remarks, 
' ' was kindling into glory the mountain-tops of their once more ran- 
somed land, they would raise their voices together, and sing the old 
war-song of Judah in strains so heroic that the great rocks around 
them would send back the thunder of their praise in louder echoes 
than those of the battle whose triumphant issue they were celebrating." 



Chapter XXV. 

DISTINGUISHED PONTIFFS— PROMINENT SCHOLARS. 

THE pontificate of Clement VHI extended into the seventeenth 
century, and closed A. D. 1605. If he had been less selfish 
during his reign he might have made the beautiful domain which he 
ruled one of the most desirable regions in the world. The ' ' States 
of the Church " were rich and prosperous when they came into the 
possession of the pontiff; but this absolute master gradually deprived 



PAUL V AND VENICE. 395 

the people of every liberty or right they had ever possessed. Taxes 
were levied on every thing from which a revenue could be derived, 
including alum, salt, flour, and meat. The poor were crushed be- 
neath the heavy burdens laid upon them, enterprise was destroyed, 
and industry discouraged. In this part of Italy personal and political 
liberty were unknown, and the power of the papal government ex- 
tended to every department of life, severe punishment being inflicted 
upon any who deviated from the exact line of conduct or of thought 
prescribed by the court of Rome. The popes, using their temporal 
power for purposes of gain, oppressed the inhabitants and robbed 
them of their earnings. They did nothing to promote education ; 
and idleness, poverty, and vice increased with fearful rapidity. 

Indeed, Clement VIII had now become a leading Italian prince, 
and concerned himself more about his temporal than his spiritual 
possessions. He endeavored to extend his authority over the Vene- 
tians, but the latter defeated him in his efforts to subjugate them. 
They were Roman Catholics, and their chief ecclesiastical dignitary, 
or patriarch, was inferior in rank to the pope alone. The Venetians 
maintained him in great splendor, but resolutely refused to allow him 
to interfere with their political affairs, requiring him to reside first at 
Aquileia, and subsequently at Grado. After the Jesuits became a 
a power in the Church a systematic warfare was inaugurated against 
education and freedom of thought. Venice regarded this crusade 
against knowledge as a direct blow at one of her most important 
industries, which was not only an object of pride to her, but also a 
source of great profit. Since the early part of the sixteenth century 
Venice had been noted for her printing-presses. Aldo Manuzio 
issued many volumes that commanded the admiration of the world, 
and are still dear to the antiquary. The court of Rome, by restrict- 
ing the publication of books, inflicted a serious loss upon the Venetian 
printers, who were finally compelled to leave that city and the terri- 
tory of the republic altogether. 

Leo XI, a Medici, followed Clement VIII, but only lived twenty- 
six days after his election. He was succeeded, on the i6th of May, 
A. D. 1605, by Cardinal Borghese, who assumed the title of Paul V. 
Arrogance and ill-temper were his distinguishing characteristics : and 
he seemed born either to restore the lost authority of Rome or to 
annihilate the power which it still retained in the different countries 
of Europe. The imprudence of this pontiff nearly alienated the 
republic of Venice from the Romish communion. The dispute 
originated in two decrees, which the senate of Venice had recently 



396 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

enacted for preventing the unnecessary erection of religious houses, 
and for prohibiting the subjects of the repubHc from appropriating 
their property to rehgious fraternities without the sanction of the sen- 
ate. The latter also imprisoned two ecclesiastics, who were accused of 
enormous crimes, while it was an established maxim at Rome that 
ecclesiastical persons were only amenable to the tribunal of the 
Church. Paul V, by his nuncio at Venice, vehemently protested 
against the edicts prohibiting the endowments of religious houses ; 
and at the same time he demanded that the prisoners should be de- 
livered into his hands, to be tried for their crimes by ecclesiastical 
judges. The senate having refused to comply with these demands, 
the pope laid the dominions of the republic under an interdict. The 
Jesuits, and the other dignitaries who presumed to publish the bull 
of excommunication against the republic, were expelled from Venice. 
The senate ordered that any priest who was disloyal to the state 
should be hanged. The Jesuits offered to celebrate the ordinary 
services, but would not celebrate the mass. This compromise was 
not acceptable to either side, and both prepared for war. Though 
the republic had at one time sustained the cause of Henry IV of 
France, that sovereign would not assist it in its hour of need, nor 
did it receive any aid from James I of England, who had expressed 
sympathy. Henry IV, however, acted as mediator, and the difficulty 
was adjusted. The pope relinquished much of his pretensions, the 
prisoners were delivered up to the French embassador, and all the 
exiled ecclesiastics were permitted to return to Venice, except the 
Jesuits, against whom the senate enacted a severe decree. 

Paul V was succeeded by Gregory XV, a man of milder disposi- 
tion ; and he was- followed by Urban VIII, of the Barberini family, 
A. D. 1623. The latter was a ripe scholar and a promoter of litera- 
ture, having a great reputation as a judicious orator and an elegant 
poet. At the same time he possessed a stern, unrelenting disposi- 
tion, and was an inflexible enemy to civil and religious liberty. He 
became jealous of the emperor's encroachments on Italy, and, by 
arraying the French and the Protestants against him and by uniting 
with the league which commenced the Thirty Years' War in Europe, 
he contributed to the more complete establishment of Protestantism 
on the Continent. It was under Urban that the Church attacked the 
doctrines of Galileo, and the astronomer was condemned to the 
Inquisition by this infallible pontiff. Innocent X, the successor of 
Urban, adopted the policy of his predecessor. He was both ignorant 
and licentious, and during his reign accomplished nothing worthy 



INNOCENT XII AND ALEXANDER VI IL 397 

of record. The next occupant of the papal throne was Cardinal 
Chigi, who assumed the title of Alexander VII. He was a man of 
morality and integrity ; but his pontificate was not distinguished by 
any events of special importance. His Corsican guards insulted the 
French embassador and his lady, and attacked his house. Louis XIV 
of France demanded an apology, and Alexander was compelled to 
send his nephew^ to Paris in the character of a suppliant. A pillar 
was erected in Rome in memory of the monarch's triumph over the 
head of the Church. To him succeeded, A. D. 1668, Cardinal Ros- 
pigliosi, as Clement IX, who, though he shut out his relatives from 
office, enriched them with the wealth of the Church. The Rospig- 
liosi palace stands as a monument of the greatness of the family. 
At this time the wealthy houses established in Rome by successive 
pontiffs became the ruling aristocracy of the papal states. From 
henceforth the popes, cardinals, and government of the papacy came 
through them chiefly, and they became the outlet of the riches of the 
Church. After the death of Clement IX the pontifical chair was 
occupied by Clement X, A. D. 1669, who lived only a few months. 
Benedetto Odescalchi entered Rome as a warrior, sword and pistol 
in hand, but was persuaded by one of the cardinals to devote him- 
self to the Church. Accepting the advice, he was soon promoted 
from priest to cardinal, and on the death of Clement X was elected 
pope, as Innocent XI. He was a man of uncommon abilities, and 
of excellent moral character. With zeal he entered on his duties, 
endeavoring to reform the abuses of the Church. It is said that he 
secretl}' aided William of Orange in his invasion of England on 
account of his animosity to Louis XIV of France, whose vice and 
pride were obnoxious to him. He was in many respects one of the 
most popular popes that ever ascended the thron-e. The minister of 
Innocent became his successor, under the title of Alexander VIII, 
and was affable, easy, and kind. He was above eighty when elected, 
and lived but a short time. His successor, Innocent XII, imitating 
the example of Innocent XI and Alexander VIII, opposed the posi- 
tion of Louis XIV of France, who claimed the revenues of a vacant 
French see until the appointment of a new bishop. Soon after his 
election, A. D. 1691, Innocent XII, like his predecessors of the same 
name, strenuously endeavored to reform the abuses of the papacy in 
Rome. The pope whose reign concluded this century was Clem- 
ent XI, whose learning and liberality rendered him useful to the 
Church. 

During the seventeenth century literature and the natural sciences 



GALILEO— PALLA VICINI—SARPL 399 

flourished in Italy. Scientific academies were founded in Rome, 
Florence, Bologna, and Naples. The Florentine Accadcmia del 
Ciinento embraced the most illustrious savants of that age, and pub- 
lished important accounts of its researches. Pre-eminent among 
philosophers was Galileo, who was born A. D. 1564. He invented 
the telescope, A. D. 1609, and, in the following year, discovered the 
moons of Jupiter, the belts of Saturn, and the two motions of the 
earth, confirming, and even going beyond, many of the discoveries 
of Copernicus. He was brought before the Inquisition, where he was 
forced to recant or die. For sixteen years he remained silent, when 
he published, A. D. 1632, his "System of the World," to vindicate 
the Copernican theory. He was again summoned before the Inqui- 
sition, and again recanted, but was imprisoned for ten years. His 
two daughters, who were nuns, attended him, and, during his confine- 
ment, he received a visit from Milton. He died, A. D. 1642, and 
was denied burial in consecrated ground; but the Inquisition could 
not overthrow the truth expressed in that familiar utterance of the 
philosopher, '' E piir si iniiove.'' The world indeed moves in a 
higher sense, and science can not be interdicted by the papal hier- 
archy. The trial and imprisonment of Galileo form the final scene 
in the death of the Italian intellect. The most noted pupils of the 
great astronomer were Viviani, Torricelli, and Castelli, and among the 
contemporary physicists, Borelli, Malpighi, Bellini, and Redi were the 
most prominent. The most distinguished historians were Sarpi, Da- 
vila, Bentivoglio, and Pallavicini. Fra Paolo Sarpi Avas an eminent 
lawyer and theologian of Venice, and defended that republic against 
the encroachments of the papacy. 



Chapter XXVL 

THE FAMINE— THE PLAGUE— THE MASSACRE. 

THE inglorious defeat of La Trinita by the Waldenses, and the 
treaty of peace signed at Cavour on the 5th of June, A. D. 
1 561, were described in a previous chapter. The cloud of war had 
indeed disappeared, but numerous and affecting memorials of the 
desolations it had inflicted remained in the "Valleys." The inhab- 
itants, descending from the mountains, exchanged the weapons of 
war for the pruning-knife and the spade. With slow and feeble 



400 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

steps the aged and infirm were led down into the vales, and sat 
once more at noon or at eve beneath the shadow of their vines 
and ancestral chestnut-trees. But, as they beheld those scenes lately 
so fair and smiling, now scathed and ruined, tears of sorrow moist- 
ened their eyes, and a heavy burden of despondency rested upon 
their hearts. The rage of the invading enemy was indicated in the 
destruction of fruit-bearing trees, the desolation of vineyards and 
corn-fields, and the burning of hamlets and villages. The beauty of 
their ''Valleys" would not be restored until the hand of time should 
efface the deep scars of war. Their cup of grief was the more bitter 
when they remembered that many who had lived under the same 
roof-tree with them, and united morning and night in the same 
psalm, would, alas, return no more. Their distress was rendered still 
greater by the threatened appearance of famine in their "Valleys." 
Having been engaged seven months in incessant fighting, they could 
not cultivate their fields, and, as they had exhausted their stock of 
last year's provisions, starvation began to stare them in the face. The 
season of sowing had already passed when the treaty of peace was 
signed, and therefore scarcely any thing could be found to reap in the 
Autumn. About this time a large number of fugitives from Calabria 
arrived in the "Valleys," and their presence was a further aggrava- 
tion of the prevailing destitution. Naked and hungry, they came to 
their brethren for relief, having escaped with nothing but their lives ; 
and they were received with open arms by the Vaudois, who, though 
bordering on famine, shared with them the little they had. 

The story of the suffering Waldenses reached other countries, and 
aroused the sympathy of their Protestant brethren. With charac- 
teristic promptness and zeal Calvin led in the movement to secure 
aid for them. He advised them to send deputies to present their 
case to the Protestant Churches abroad, and, as the result of this 
plan, collections were made for them in Geneva, France, Switzerland, 
and Germany. The first subscriber on the list was the Elector Pala- 
tine; then followed the names of the duke of Wiirtemberg, the can- 
ton of Bern, the Church at Strasburg, and others. The Waldenses, 
however, were not long dependent upon the charity of their breth- 
ren. Seed-time and harvest were again restored to their "Valleys." 
On the sides of their mountains, and by the banks of their streams, 
smiling chalets began to rise, and the evil effects of La Trinita's 
campaign were being forgotten, when they were annoyed by the ap- 
pointment of Castocaro, a native of Tuscany, to be deputy-governor 
of their "Valleys." He had served against the Vaudois as a colonel 



THE TREACHEROUS CASTOCARO. 40I 

of militia under La Trinita, was taken prisoner, and, after honorable 
treatment, was at length generously released. Resolving to return 
evil for good, he sought to be appointed ruler of the Waldenses, 
and, being acquainted with the Duchess Margaret, their protectress, 
he ingratiated himself into her favor by professing a warm affection 
for the men of the" Valleys," and secured the friendship of the arch- 
bishop of Turin by pledging himself to make strenuous efforts to con- 
vert his prospective subjects to Romanism. 

After his inauguration as governor of the Waldensian territory, 
he forgot his professions to the duchess, to whom he mainly owed 
his appointment, and commenced faithfully to fulfill the promises he 
had made to the archbishop. He began by restricting the liberties 
guaranteed to their Churches in the treaty of peace ; he then ordered 
the dismissal of certain of their pastors, and, when their congrega- 
tions refused to comply, he fined and imprisoned the rebellious. He 
sent false reports to the court of the duke, and marched a body of 
soldiers into the country, on the pretext that the Waldenses were 
preparing to resist the government. He built the fortress of Mira- 
bouc, at the foot of the Col de la Croix, in the narrow gorge that 
leads from Bobbio to France, to close this gate of exit from their ter- 
ritory, and overawe the valley of Lucerna. Finally, he threatened 
to renew the war, unless the Waldenses should comply with his de- 
mands. What could they do in this emergency but present their 
complaints and remonstrances to the duke and duchess at Turin ? 
But, alas, Castrocaro had by his craft and malice poisoned their 
minds against the Vaudois, and the latter would soon again be con- 
fronted with the old alternative — the mass or death. 

In their extremity they appealed for help to the Protestant princes 
of Germany, and this cry from the Alps found a responsive echo 
from the German plains. The sympathies of the great Protestant 
chiefs of the Father-land, especially of Frederic, elector palatine, 
were aroused ; and, recognizing these humble vine-dressers and poor, 
oppressed herdsmen as his brethren, Frederic espoused their cause 
with ardor and warmth. He addressed a letter to the duke, which 
contains a noble defense of the rights of conscience and an eloquent 
plea in behalf of toleration. Leger published the letter in full, but 
an extract is sufficient to show the elevation of its sentiments, and 
the catholicity of its views: ''Let your highness know that there is 
a God in heaven, who not only contemplates the actions, but also 
tries the hearts and reins of men, and from whom nothing is hid. 
Let your highness take care not voluntarily to make war upon God, 



402 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

and not to persecute Christ in his members. . . . Persecution, 
moreover, will never advance the cause it pretends to defend. The 
ashes of the martyrs are the seed of the Christian Church. For the 
Church resembles the palm-tree, whose stem only shoots up the 
taller, the greater the weights that are hung upon it. Let your high- 
ness consider that the Christian religion was established by persuasion 
and not by violence ; and, as it is certain that religion is nothing else 
than a firm and enlightened persuasion of God and of his will, as 
revealed in his Word, and engraven in the hearts of believers by his 
Holy Spirit, it can not, when once rooted, be torn away by tortures." 

Thus the Elector Palatine warned the duke in words certainly 
remarkable, when we remember that they were written in the middle 
of the sixteenth century. We doubt whether a better expression on 
the subject of the rights of conscience, the spirituality of religion, and 
the impolicy as well as the criminality of persecution, could be obtained 
in our own liberal age. We often apologize for the cruel and bloody 
deeds of Spain and France, on the ground that intolerance and igno- 
rance then prevailed in those lands. But six years before the St. 
Bartholomew massacre was enacted this great voice had been raised 
in Christendom for toleration. It is not definitely known what effect 
this letter produced upon the mind of the duke, but afterwards Cas- 
trocaro restrained his violence, though he still continued at intervals 
to terrify the poor people by making the most atrocious threats against 
them. On the death of Emmanuel Philibert, A. D. 1580, the villainy 
of the governor was more fully revealed. The young duke, Charles 
Emmanuel, ordered his arrest; but its execution was a difficult mat- 
ter, as Castrocaro had entrenched himself in the castle of La Torre, 
and surrounded himself with a band of desperadoes, to which he had 
added, for his yet greater defense, a pack of furious blood-hounds of 
unusual size and strength. He was betrayed by a captain of his 
guard, and, as he had maintained himself by treachery, it is signifi- 
cant that by treachery he was at length taken. Monastier informs 
us that he was carried to Turin, where he perished in prison. 

The patient Vaudois had been afflicted with famine, persecution, 
war, all three sometimes in succession, and sometimes together; but 
now they were visited from the hand of God. While Europe had 
been in combustion, they, shut up within their mountains, enjoyed, 
for some years, an unusual peace. In France, Spain, and many 
parts of Italy their brethren of the Reformed Church were falling on 
the field, perishing by massacre or dying at the stake, while they 
had been remarkably preserved from harm. But now a new calam- 



THE PLAGUE. 



403 



ity carried gloom and mourning into their '* Valleys." On the morn- 
ing of the 23d oi August, A. D. 1629, a cloud of unusual blackness 
gathered on the summit of the Col Julien, and suddenly burst in a 
water-spout or deluge. The torrents rolled down the mountains on 
both sides and overflowed the villages of Bobbio and Prali, situated 
the one in the southern and the other in the northern valley. Many 
of the houses were swept away and the inhabitants had barely time 
to save their lives by flight. An icy wind, accompanied by a dry 
cloud, scathed their "Valleys" in September of the same year, and 
destroyed the crop of the chestnut tree. Then followed a second 
deluge of rain, which completely ruined the vintage. As these calam- 
ities succeeded a year of partial famine, the affliction was the more 
grievous. The Vaudois pastors assembled in solemn synod to hum- 
ble themselves and to lift up their voices in prayer to God. ''Little 
did they imagine," as Dr. Wylie remarks, "that at that moment a 
still heavier calamity hung over them, and that this was the last time 
they were ever to meet one another on earth." 

In the French army, which, under Marshal Schomberg, suddenly 
occupied the "Valleys," A. D. 1630, were many volunteers who had 
made their escape from a virulent, contagious disease, then raging in 
France. The plague manifested itself in the first week of May, in 
the Valley of Perosa; it next appeared in the more northern Valley 
of Martino; and then soon spread throughout all the "Valleys." 
Beneath the shadow of this mysterious and terrible scourge the pas- 
tors met together to supplicate the Almighty, and adopt practical 
measures for checking the ravages of the fearful visitant. They also 
engaged in the benevolent work of purchasing medicine, collecting 
provisions for the poor, visiting the sick, consoling the dying, and 
preaching in the open air to crowds, solemn and eager to listen. The 
weather was hot, and the seeds of the pestilence, which the army 
had brought with it, rapidly developed themselves, and in July and 
August, when the heat was excessive, the malady raged yet more 
furiously. Four of the pastors died in the month of July, seven in 
August, and in September another, the twelfth was mortally stricken 
by the plague. Only three pastors now remained, and it was 
remarked as a singular circumstance that they belonged to three 
several valleys — Lucerna, Martino, and Perosa. These three surviv- 
ors assembled on the heights of Angrogna to consult with the dep- 
uties of the various parishes concerning the means for providing 
pastors. As the result of the conference, they wrote to Geneva and 
Dauphine, requesting that religious teachers might be sent to celebrate 

27 



404 ITAL Y STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

worship, so that the venerable *' Church of the Valleys," which had 
survived so many calamities, might not become extinct. The histo- 
rian, Muston, states that Antonio Leger was recalled from Constan- 
tinople, where he had been tutor for many years in the family of the 
embassador of Holland. 

During the Winter the pestilence subsided, but in the Spring, 
A. D. 1 63 1, it revived again in renewed force. Of the three surviv- 
ing pastors one other died, leaving thus only two — Pierre Gilles, of 
Lucerna, and Valerius Gross, of Martino. With the heats of Summer 
the plague increased in strength. Armies coming and going in the 
"Valleys" were attacked by this silent yet invincible enemy and 
suffered equally with the inhabitants. Horsemen were seized with 
sudden illness, and could be seen falling from the saddle on the high- 
way. Soldiers and sutlers were stricken down in by-paths, where 
their corpses lay infecting the air. In La Torre alone fifty families 
became extinct. The most moderate estimate of the number cut off 
by the pestilence is ten thousand, or from a half to two-thirds of the 
entire population of the "Valleys." The grapes rotted on the bough, 
the corn in many places remained uncut, and the fruit dropped from 
the tree. Silence reigned in towns and villages where the sound of 
industry had recently been heard. Strangers, who had come to find 
health in the pure mountain air, obtained from the soil nothing but 
a grave. Parents were without children, and children were without 
parents. Patriarchs, who had been accustomed to gather with pride 
and joy their numerous grandchildren round them, had seen them 
sicken and die and were now sad and lonely. 

The venerable pastor Gilles lost his four elder sons, but in the 
providence of God he was preserved, though continually exposed to 
the malady in the homes of the stricken and at the bedsides of the 
dying. He was no doubt spared to compile the monuments of his 
ancient Church, and record among other woes that which had just 
desolated his native land, and "part of which he had been." Only 
two of the Vaudois pastors now remained, and, fearing that the "old 
lamp" might go out, ministers from Geneva and other places hastened 
to the "Valleys." Hitherto the services of the Waldensian Church 
had been conducted in the Italian language, but the new pastors 
could speak only French, and hence the latter tongue was used in 
performing religious devotions. The Vaudois soon obtained a knowl- 
edge of it, their own ancient language being a dialect between the 
French and Italian. They introduced another change at this time by 
assimilating their ritual to that of Geneva; and made a further inno- 



THE DUCHESS CHRISTINA. 405 

vatlon by dropping the primitive and affectionate name of Baiiia and 
substituting the modern title, Monsieur le Ministre. 

After the departure of the plague the Waldenses began to reorgan- 
ize their community. Death had entered every house, rent asunder 
every tie, and destroyed nearly every family. What i^\N scattered 
inhabitants remained now came together to unite heart and hand in 
restoring the ruined churches, raising up the fallen habitations, and 
creating anew family and home. Other events of an encouraging 
character occurred at this time which revived the spirits of the Vau- 
dois, and inspired in them a ray of hope which made the scene of 
the recent terrible catastrophe appear brighter. A treaty of peace 
between the French monarch and the duke was signed, the army 
then withdrew, and the dominion of the House of Savoy was once 
more extended over the ''Valleys." Comparative tranquillity pre- 
vailed for a decade and a half, during which the population estab- 
lished itself anew, and the soil was brought again under tillage. But 
what were fifteen years of peace and prosperity amid storms so awful ? 
This delightful period came to a close A. D. 1650, when the Vaudois 
entered within the shadow of their greatest calamity. Charles Em- 
manuel II, a youth of fifteen, and a prince of mild and humane 
disposition, then occupied the throne of Savoy. His mother, the 
Duchess Christina, who sprung from a race always celebrated for 
their dissimulation, their cruelty, and their bigoted devotion to 
Rome, was appointed regent of the kingdom during her son's minor- 
ity. She was the daughter of Henry IV and Mary de Medici, and 
granddaughter of that Catherine de Medici whose name stands so 
prominently connected with a tragedy which has received, as it de- 
served, the execration of mankind — the St. Bartholomew Massacre. 
The granddaughter inherited the gloomy disposition and ferocious 
temper of the grandmother. The young prince, Charles, was coun- 
seled and ruled by her, and in no reign did the tears and blood of the 
Waldenses flow so profusely. It was not the facile spirit of the House 
of Savoy that enacted those scenes of carnage which make humanity 
shudder, but they were the result of a policy adopted in the Vatican 
and executed by the cruel, crafty, blood-thirsty agent of the House 
of Medici and regent of the kingdom. 

The premeditated blow did not descend all at once, but a series 
of lesser strokes — chicaneries, machinations, and legal robberies — pre- 
pared the way for the great attack, which was expected to terminate 
in the complete and final extermination of the Waldenses. First of 
all appeared the monks. The plague had visited the "Valleys," and 



406 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

now came a swarm of Capuchins, who were regarded by the Vaudois 
as a second pestilence. They had been sent to convert the heretics, 
and, confident of victory, they began their mission by challenging 
the pastors to a controversy. After a few trials, however, they ascer- 
tained the fact that the heretics were not easily conquered in debate. 
Indeed, these shrewd monks endeavored to cover their weakness by 
complaining that the Vaudois made 'a pope of their Bible,' and, as 
this was a book which the Fathers had not studied, they, their suc- 
cessors, did not know where to find the passages that they felt sure 
would confute the advocates of error. Finding that discussion was 
an ineffectual method of silencing heretics, the Capuchins banished 
them, the accomplished Antonine Leger, uncle of the historian, being 
among the exiles. Thus were the people deprived of their spiritual 
leaders, and some of their churches were closed. They were prohib- 
ited, on pain of confiscation and death, from purchasing, or even cul- 
tivating lands outside their own narrow territories, which to them 
were practically a prison, since an order had been issued forbidding 
them to cross the frontier, even for a few hours, unless on fair-days. 

The communes of Bobbio, Villaro, Angrogna, and Rora, which 
were wholly Protestant, were commanded to sustain each a mission, 
and foreign Protestants were interdicted from settling in the * ' Val- 
leys, under pain of death, and a fine of one thousand gold crowns 
upon the communes that should receive them. This law was de- 
signed to drive out the pastors, who, since the pestilence, were mostly 
French or Swiss, and the papal authorities confidently hoped that, 
in a few years, the Vaudois would be without ministers. The billet- 
ing of soldiers, poor harvests, and confiscations had reduced the peo- 
ple to extreme poverty, and, taking advan-tage of their condition, 
their Romish rulers established Monts de Pi^te to induce them to 
pawn their goods, and, when they had pledged all, they were offered 
restitution in full, on condition of renouncing their faith. Young 
maidens were promised dowries on the same terms. These various 
arts did not succeed, only some dozen Waldenses being added to the 
Roman Catholic Church. The agents of the latter, surprised and 
disappointed at the slow progress of the good work of proselytizing, 
resolved to adopt more efficient measures. 

The "Society for the Propagation of the Faith," established by 
Pope Gregory XV, A. D. 1622, had already spread over Italy and 
France. Its object was originally declared in words simple and inno- 
cent: ''De Pwpaganda Fide " (for the Propagation of the Faith). Since 
the first institution of the society, however, its title, if not its object, 



MARCHIONESS DI PIANEZA. 407 

had undergone enlargement. To its first modest designation were 
added the significant and emphatic words: ''et Extirpandis HcBrxticis" 
(and the Extirpation of Heretics). The membership of the society 
rapidly increased, including both laymen and priests. All ranks, 
from the noble and the prelate to the peasant and the pauper, has- 
tened to unite with it, the inducement being a plenary indulgence to 
all who should engage in the noble enterprise, so unmistakably indi- 
cated in the one short and pithy clause, '^et Extirpandis Hcsreticis.'' 
The societies in the smaller towns reported to the metropolitan cities, 
and they to the capital, and the capitals to Rome, where, in the 
words of Leger, ' ' sat the great spider that held the threads of this 
mighty web." The ''Council for the Propagation of the Faith" 
was established at Turin, A. D. 1650. The chief councillors of state, 
the great lords of the country, and the dignitaries of the Church 
enrolled themselves as a presiding board. 

Societies of women were organized, at the head of which was the 
Marchioness di Pianeza. She was the first lady at court, and, not 
having worn " the white rose of a blameless life," she was all the 
more zealous in this cause, in the hope of making expiation for the er- 
rors of the past. She labored earnestly to promote the object of the 
society, and infused her resolute spirit into all under her. * * The lady 
propagandists," says Leger, "distributed the towns into districts, and 
each visited the district assigned to her twice a week, suborning sim- 
ple girls, servant maids, and young children, by their flattering allure- 
ments and fair promises, and doing evil turns to such as would not 
listen to them. They had their spies every-where, who, among other 
information, ascertained in what Protestant families disagreements 
existed, and hither would the propagandists repair, stirring up dissen- 
sions, in order to separate the husband from the wife, the wife from 
the husband, the children from the parents ; promising them, and, 
indeed, giving them, great advantages if they would consent to at- 
tend mass. Did they hear of a tradesman whose business was falling 
off, or of a gentleman who, from gambling or otherwise, was in want 
of money, these ladies were at hand with their Dabo tibi ( I will give 
thee), on condition of apostasy; and the prisoner was in like manner 
relieved from his dungeon, who would give himself up to them. To 
meet the very heavy expenses of this proselytizing, to keep the ma- 
chinery at work, to purchase the souls that sold themselves for bread, 
regular collections were made in the chapels, and in private families, 
in the shops, in the inns, in the gambling houses, in the streets, every- 
where, was alms-begging in operation. The marchioness of Pianeza 



408 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

herself, great lady as she was, used every second or third day to 
make a circuit in search of subscriptions, even going into the tav- 
erns for that purpose. . ... If any person of condition, who 
was believed able to contribute a coin, chanced to arrive at any 
hotel in town, these ladies did not fail to wait upon him, purse in 
hand, and solicit a donation. When persons of substance known 
to belong to the religion [ Reformed ] arrived in Turin, they did not 
scruple to ask money of them for the propagation of the faith, and 
the influence of the marchioness, or fear of losing their errand and 
ruining their affairs, would often induce such to comply." 

While busy in the prosecution of these schemes, the marchioness 
di Pianeza was prostrated by disease. As death approached, she 
experienced great remorse, and, desiring to make some atonement, 
she summoned her lord ( from whom she had been parted for many 
years), to her bedside, and charged him, as he valued the repose of 
her soul, and the safety of his own, to continue the good work on 
which her heart had been so much set, of converting the Vaudois. 
For the purpose of stimulating his zeal, she bequeathed him a sum 
of money, which, however, he could not touch until he had fulfilled 
the condition on which it was granted. The marquis accepted the 
task with the utmost good will. As a bigot and soldier he could 
think of only one way of converting the Vaudois. 

The storm of persecution now burst upon them. Gastaldo issued 
his famous order on the 25th of January, A. D. 1655, commanding 
all the Vaudois families residing in the commons of Lucerna, Fenile, 
Bubiana, Bricherasio, San Giovanni, and La Torre — in short, the 
whole of that rich district that separates their capital from the plain 
of Piedmont — to abandon their dwellings within three days, and retire 
into the valleys of Bobbio, Angrogna, and Rora. The penalty, in 
case of refusal, was death. Another requirement was, that they 
should sell their lands to Romanists within twenty days. Those, 
however, who abjured the Protestant faith were exempted from the 
decree. It was the depth of Winter, and that season in the Alps 
has terrors unknown to the Winters of even more northern regions. 
How inhuman and barbarous, therefore, this edict, which compelled 
young children and old men, the sick and the bed-ridden, the blind 
and the lame, to undertake a journey across swollen rivers, through 
valleys buried in snow, and over mountains covered with ice! The 
Romish Propaganda at Turin appointed the time of departure, know- 
ing that the Vaudois must inevitably perish with cold and hunger. 
When Christ was speaking to his disciples about the Roman armies 



THE SUFFERING FUGITIVES. 409 

gathering around Jerusalem, he said, **Pray ye that your flight be 
not in Winter." But how much more terrible was the experience of 
these modern disciples. Cold were the icy peaks that looked down 
on them as they were now fording the torrents, and now struggling 
up the mountain tracks, but the heart of the persecutor was colder 
still. They were offered the alternative of attending mass ; but Leger, 
the historian, says that he was pastor of a congregation of nearly two 
thousand persons, and that not one of them accepted the alternative. 
"I can well bear them this testimony," he observes, "seeing I was 
their pastor for eleven years, and I knew every one of them by 
name ; judge, reader, whether I had not cause to weep for joy as well 
as for sorrow, when I saw that all the fury of these wolves was not 
able to influence one of these lambs, and that no earthly advantage 
could shake their constancy. And when I marked the traces of the 
blood on the snow and ice, over which they had dragged their lac- 
erated limbs, had I not cause to bless God that I had seen accom- 
plished in their poor bodies what remained of the measure of the 
sufierings of Christ, and especially, when I beheld this heavy cross 
borne by them with a fortitude so noble?" 

These poor exiles were welcomed by the Vaudois of the other 
valleys, who gladly shared witli them their own humble and scanty 
fare, consisting of polenta and roasted chestnuts, with the milk 
and butter of their mountains. Thus laden, their table was joyfully 
spread for all the refugees. The enemies of this persecuted people 
were filled with amazement when they beheld the whole community 
rise up as one man, and depart. But greater woes rapidly followed 
this initial calamity. The deliberate purpose of the "Propaganda" 
was the extirpation of the entire body of the Vaudois, though only 
a part of of it had suffered from the cruel decree of Gastaldo. The 
Waldensians, who had retired to the upper valleys, sent respectful 
representations to the court of Turin, describing their piteous con- 
dition in such pathetic terms that it seems strange how even that 
tribunal could refuse their supplications. These petitioners besought 
the fulfillment of treaties in which the honor and truth of the house 
of Savoy were pledged, but their temperate and just request was not 
granted. The ear of their prince had been poisoned by falsehood. 
They were denied access to him, and their remonstrances, though 
accompanied with tears and groans, were wholly unheeded by the 
"Propaganda." The Vaudois were put off with equivocal answers 
and delusive promises until the fatal 17th of April had arrived, when 
it was no longer necessary to dissemble and equivocate. 



4IO ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

The marquis di Pianeza, on the 17th of April, A. D. 1655, ^^- 
parted secretly at midnight from Turin, and appeared before the 
"Valleys" at the head of an army of fifteen thousand men. While 
he was on the road to La Torre the Waldensian deputies were, by 
appointment, knocking at his door in Turin. Leaving the main body 
of his army encamped on the plain, the marquis, attended by about 
three hundred men, appeared under the walls of La Torre, at eight 
o'clock on Saturday, the same 17th of April. That army, secretly 
prepared, was composed of Piedmontese, comprehending a large 
number of banditti, who were promised pardon and plunder should 
they behave themselves well. Monastier states that there were some 
companies of Bavarians, six regiments of French, whose thirst for 
blood the Huguenot wars had not been able to slake, and several 
companies of Irish Romanists, who, banished by Cromwell, arrived 
in Piedmont dripping from the massacre of their Protestant fellow- 
subjects in their native land. 

The Waldensians had hastily constructed a barricade at the en- 
trance of La Torre. The marquis ordered his soldiers to storm it ; 
but the besieged made such a strong resistance that, after three 
hours' fighting, the enemy discovered that he had made no advance. 
At one o'clock on Sunday morning Count Amadeus of Lucerna, 
who was well acquainted with the locality, made a flank movement 
along the banks of the Pellice, stole silently through the meadows 
and orchards, and, advancing from the opposite quarter, attacked the 
Vaudois in the rear. Suddenly turning, and facing the enemy, they 
pierced the ranks of their assailants and retreated to the hills. The 
Vaudois had lost only three men in all that conflict. It was now 
between two and three o'clock on Sunday morning, and, though the 
hour was early, the Romanists repaired in a body to the church in 
La Torre and chanted a Te Deinn. It v/as Palm Sunday, and thus 
did the Romish Church, by her soldiers celebrate in the Waldensian 
valleys that great festival of good-will and love. 

Having previously transported their families to the mountains, 
the Vaudois, from their natural fastnesses, fearlessly beheld the. 
movements of the enemy. Their sentinels kept watch night and day 
along the frontier heights, closely observing Pianeza's army on the 
plains beneath. They saw their orchards falling by the axes, and their 
dwellings being consumed by the torches of the soldiers. Along 
the line of their mountain passes and forts a series of skirmishes 
occurred on Monday, the 19th, and Tuesday, the 20th. The Vaudois 
were poorly armed and vastly outnumbered, but they were victorious 



PIANEZA'S TREACHERY. 411 

at every point. The popish soldiers retreated in great disorder, re- 
porting wondrous tales of Vaudois valor and heroism to their com- 
rades on the plain, and infusing incipient panic into the camp. 

Pianeza, remembering that mighty armies had previously per- 
ished on these mountains, became disquieted, and was haunted 
with misgivings regarding the result. As cowardice and guilt are 
generally associated, he naturally employed a weapon which the 
Waldenses have never been able to use as effectively as the sword. 
Before daybreak on Wednesday, the 21st, Pianeza announced, by 
sound of trumpet at the various Vaudois intrenchments, that he was 
willing to receive their deputies and treat for peace. Accordingly, 
delegates were sent to his camp, and were welcomed at headquarters 
with the utmost urbanity, and sumptuously entertained. The papal 
commander expressed his deep regret that his soldiers had committed 
such excesses, contrary to his orders. He declared that he had 
come into their valleys only in pursuit of a few fugitives, who had 
disobeyed Gastaldo's order; that the higher communes had nothing 
to fear; and that, if they would admit a single regiment, each for a 
few days, in token of their loyalty, all would be amicably settled. 
The crafty leader conquered the deputies, and despite the warnings 
of the more sagacious, especially the pastor Leger, the Waldenses 
opened the passes of their valleys and the doors of their dwellings 
to the soldiers of Pianeza. 

The Waldenses, alas! had received under their roofs the murder- 
ers of themselves and their families. The first two days, the 22d 
and 23d of April, were passed in comparative peace, the soldiers 
eating at the same table, sleeping under the same roof, and convers- 
ing freely with their destined victims. During this interval the 
necessary preparations were made for the tragedy that was to follow. 
The towns, the villages, the cottages, and the roads throughout the 
"Valleys" were now occupied by the enemy, who likewise hung 
upon the heights. The two great passes which led into France — the 
one over the snows of the lofty Col Julien, and the other by the 
valley of Queyras into Dauphine — were held by Pianeza's forces, and 
escape was therefore impossible by either outlet. No one could 
traverse the Col Julien at this season and live, and the fortress of 
Mirabouc, that guarded the narrow gorge which led into the valley 
of Queyras, the enemy had been careful to secure. The Vaudois 
were inclosed as in a net — shut in as in a prison. 

At length the terrible blow fell with the sudden crash of the 
thunder-bolt. According to Leger, who was an eye-witness of these 



412 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

horrors, the signal was given from the castle-hill of La Torre, at four 
o'clock on the morning of Saturday, the 24th of April, A. D. 1655. 
But who can rehearse the fearful tragedy that followed? '*It is Cain 
a second time," says Monastier, "shedding the blood of his brother 
Abel." Almost instantly a thousand assassins commenced the work 
of death, and the valleys of Angrogna and Lucerna beheld a scene 
of dismay, agon}', and Avoe. If the fiends of pandemonium had 
come forth to riot in crime and revel in blood, they could not have 
excelled the cruel soldiers of the Romish "Propaganda." The vic- 
tims hastily climbed the hills, pursued by the murderers ; and the 
torrents rolling down the mountain -side soon became tinged with 
blood, indicating that the butchery was progressing on the heights. 
Clouds of dark smoke, relieved by gleams of lurid light, ascended 
from the vales ; for a priest and monk accompanied each party of 
soldiers, and set fire to the houses as soon as the inmates had been 
murdered. The most heart-rending cries and groans echoed and re- 
echoed from the rocks around, and it seemed as if the mountains 
had taken up a lamentation for the slaughter of their children. 
"Our valley of Lucerna," exclaims Leger, "which was like a 
Goshen, was now converted into a Mount Etna, darting forth cinders 
and fire and flames. The earth resembled a furnace, and the air was 
filled with a darkness like that of Egypt, which might be felt, from 
the smoke of towns, villages, temples, mansions, granges, and build- 
ings, all burning in the flames of the Vatican." 

The soldiers, not satisfied with the sudden infliction of death by 
the sword, invented new modes of torture and death ; and we dare 
not portray in plain words all the disgusting and horrible deeds of 
these men, whose wickedness can never be known, because it never 
can be all told. The selection of a few instances from the awful 
account given by Leger will be sufficient to show how human beings 
may be transformed into fiends. Little children were torn from the 
arms of their mothers, clasped by their tiny feet, and their heads 
dashed against the rocks; or were held between two soldiers, and 
their quivering limbs torn up by main force. Their mangled bodies 
were then thrown on the highways or fields, to be devoured by 
beasts. The sick and the aged were burned alive in their dwellings. 
The hands, arms, and legs of some were cut off, and fire applied to 
the severed parts to staunch the bleeding and prolong their suffering. 
Some of them were flayed alive ; some were roasted alive ; some dis- 
emboweled, or tied to trees in their own orchards, and their hearts 
cut out. Others were horribly mutilated; and of many the brains 



FIENDISH TORTURERS. 413 

were boiled and eaten by these cannibals. Some were fastened down 
into the furrows of their own fields, and plowed into the soil. Some 
were even buried alive. Fathers were marched to death with the 
heads of their sons suspended round their necks. Parents were com- 
pelled to look on while their children were first outraged, then mas- 
sacred, before being- themselves permitted to die. But we can not 
proceed farther in Leger's shocking narration. The abominable, 
monstrous, and vile deeds of Pianeza's soldiers are so utterly disgust- 
ing and fiendish that they can not be transcribed. The heart sickens 
and the brain begins to swim. "My hand trembles," says Leger, 
"so that I can scarce hold my pen, and my tears mingle in torrents 
with my ink, while I write the deeds of these children of darkness — 
blacker even than the Prince of Darkness himself" 

A general description, however appalling, can not convey so cor- 
rect an idea of the terrible character of this persecution as would the 
history of individual cases ; but circumstances will not permit this. 
Could we describe these martyrs one by one — could we portray the trag- 
ical fate of Peter Simeon, of Angrogna; the barbarous death of Magda- 
lene, wife of Peter Pilon, of Villaro ; the sad story of Anne, daughter 
of John Charbonier, of La Torre, whose sufferings can not be ex- 
pressed by words ; the cruel martyrdom of Paul Garnier, of Rora, 
whose eyes were first plucked out, who next of all endured other hor- 
rible indignities, and, last of all, was flayed alive and his skin divided 
into four parts, extended on the window-gratings of the four principal 
houses in Lucerna — could all these cases, with hundreds of others 
equally atrocious, be narrated in detail, the recital would be too har- 
rowing, and the reader of the bloody story would turn away from it. 
The Waldenses literally suffered all the things of which the apostle 
speaks, as endured by the martyrs of old, with other torments not 
then invented, or which the rage of even a Nero shrank from inflict- 
ing: "They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, 
were slain with the sword ; they wandered about in sheep-skins and 
goat-skins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world 
was not worthy), they wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in 
dens and caves of the earth." 

These cruelties are unparalleled and unique in the history of at 
least civilized countries. There has been more blood shed and more 
life sacrificed in other tragedies, but in none were the actors so com- 
pletely dehumanized and the forms of suffering so fearfully disgusting 
and so unutterably revolting. The "Piedmontese massacres," in this 
respect, stand alone. They are more fiendish than all the atrocities and 



414 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

murders before or since, and Leger may still advance his challenge to 
"all travellers and all who have studied the history of ancient and mod- 
ern pagans, whether among the Chinese, Tartars, and Turks, they ever 
witnessed or heard tell of such execrable perfidies and barbarities." 
The authors of these deeds believed that they would be considered 
incredible by the world on account of their monstrous cruelty, and 
they boldly denied them even before the blood of the martyrs was well 
dry in the ''Valleys." But pastor Leger immediately adopted effect- 
ual means to demonstrate the falsehood of that denial, and to secure 
that clear and convincing proof which would satisfy that and succeed- 
ing generations. Soon after the massacre he traveled from com- 
mune to commune, attended by notaries, who took down the depo- 
sitions and attestations of the survivors and eye-witnesses of these 
deeds, in presence of the council and consistory of the place. From 
the evidence of these witnesses he compiled and published a book, 
which Dr. Gilly, of England, truly characterized as one of the most 
"dreadful" in existence. Leger gave the originals of these deposi- 
tions to Sir Samuel Morland, who placed them, together with other 
valuable documents pertaining to the Waldenses, in the library of the 
University of Cambridge. 

When the survivors of this awful massacre beheld their brethren 
slain, their country devastated, and their Church overthrown, their 
hearts were filled with inexpressible grief. * ' Oh that my head were 
waters," exclaims Leger, "and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I 
might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people ! 
Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow." "It 
was then," he adds, "that the fugitives who had been snatched as 
brands from the burning, could address God in the words of the sev- 
enty-ninth Psalm, which literally as emphatically describes their 
condition : 

"O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance, 
Thy holy temple have they defiled ; 
They have laid Jerusalem on heaps, 
The dead bodies of thy servants have they given 
To be meat unto the fowls of heaven, 
The flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth." 

When the work of desolation and death had ceased, Leger assem- 
bled the scattered survivors to consult with them relative to the 
course to be pursued. It is not strange that some advocated a 
speedy retirement from the "Valleys;" but Leger strongly dissuaded 
them against the thought of forsaking their ancient inheritance. He 



INTERPOSITION OF CROMWELL. 415 

urged them to rebuild their Zion in the faith that the God of their 
fathers would not permit the "Church of the Valleys" to be finally 
overthrown. To encourage them in this undertaking he presented a 
statement of their sufferings and demoralized condition to their breth- 
ren of other countries, who, he was sure, would hasten to their help at 
this great crisis. These counsels prevailed. "Our tears are no longer 
of water," so wrote the remant of the slaughtered Vaudois to the Prot- 
estants of Europe, ** they are of blood ; they do not merely obscure our 
sight, they choke our very hearts. Our hands tremble, and our heads 
ache by the many blows we have received. We can not frame an 
epistle answerable to the intent of our minds and the strangeness of 
our desolations. We pray you to excuse us, and to collect amid our 
groans the meaning of what we fain would utter." This touching 
introduction was followed by a representation of their state, express- 
ing themselves in terms, the moderation of which contrasts strongly 
with the extent of their wrongs. When the news of the massacre 
reached Protestant Europe a thrill of horror was felt by all classes. 

In no country did the tidings awaken a deeper sympathy or kindle 
a stronger indignation than in England. Cromwell, who was then at 
the head of the state, proclaimed a fast, ordered a collection for the 
sufferers, and wrote to all the Protestant princes and to the king of 
France, to enlist their sympathy and aid in behalf of the Vaudois. 
Dr. Wylie states that the sum contributed in England was about thirty- 
eight thousand pounds sterling, and that sixteen thousand pounds of 
this was invested, on the security of the state, to pension pastors, 
school-masters, and students in the "Valleys." This latter sum was 
appropriated by Charles II, on the pretext that he was not bound to 
implement the engagements of a usurper. At this time Milton was 
the protector's Latin secretary, and the writing of these letters was one 
of the noblest as well as the most sacrfcd of the tasks ever performed 
by the great poet. Indeed, his pen was not more gloriously em- 
ployed in writing "Paradise Lost." Cromwell was so deeply inter- 
ested in the welfare of these venerable sufferers for conscience' sake, 
that he sent Sir Samuel Morland with a letter to the duke of Savoy, 
in which he expressed the astonishment and sorrow he felt at the 
barbarities which had been committed. Cromwell's embassador vis- 
ted the "Valleys" on his way to Turin, and beheld with his own 
eyes the terrible spectacle which the region still presented. "If," 
said he, addressing the duke of Savoy, "the tyrants of all times and 
ages were alive again they would doubtless be ashamed to find that 
nothing barbarous nor inhuman, in comparison of these deeds, had 



4l6 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

ever been invented by them. In the mean time, the angels are 
stricken with horror; men are dizzy with amazement; heaven itself 
appears astonished with the cries of the dying, and the very earth to 
blush with the gore of so many innocent persons." The scene of the 
slaughter gave force to his eloquence and kindled his republican 
plainness into Puritan fervor, moving him to exclaim, * * Avenge not 
thyself, O God, for this mighty wickedness, this parricidal slaughter. 
Let thy blood, O Christ, wash out this blood!" 

We have often mentioned the Castelluzzo in our history of the 
Waldenses, and their numerous martyrdoms. It is intimately con- 
nected with the "massacre of 1655," and inspired the muse of Mil- 
ton. It stands at the entrance of the ** Valleys," with feathery 
woods covering its feet, and around its middle like a girdle is strewn 
a mass of rock and debns, which countless tempests have gathered 
there. From amidst these the supreme column rises up like a pillar, 
and seems to touch the white cloud, which floats past in mid-heaven. 
A short distance below the crowning rocks of summit a dark spot is 
visible on the face of the cliff At first sight it appears to be the 
shadow of a passing cloud upon the mountain, but a closer observa- 
tion shows that it is immovable, and, when approached, proves to be 
the mouth of a cave, so extensive that it will accommodate several 
hundred persons. To this friendly chamber the Waldensians were 
accustomed to flee when Pandemonium reigned in the valleys be- 
neath, glittering with steel, red with crime, and resounding with 
execrations and blasphemies. During the great massacre of 1655 
many of the Vaudois secreted themselves in this cave; but, alas, the 
persecutor tracked them thither, and, dragging them forth rolled them 
down the dreadful precipice. 

The law of association, that indissolubly links atrocious crimes 
with the spot where they were perpetrated, has written the "Mas- 
sacre of 1655 " on this mountain, whose rocks will remain as eternal 
witnesses of that bloody tragedy. As Dr. Wylie eloquently remarks, 
"there is not another such martyr's monument in the whole world." 
While the Castelluzzo stands the cruel slaughter will be remembered, 
and through all ages it will continue to speak in terms which Milton, 
the sublime poet, has interpreted: 

" Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones 
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold ; 
Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old, 
When all our fathers worshiped stocks and stones, 
Forget not ; in thy book record their groans 



ASCENT OF LA COMBE. 417 

Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold 
Slain by the bloody Piedmontese, that roU'd 

Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans 
The vales redoubled to the hills, and they 

To heaven. Their martyr'd blood and ashes sow 
O'er all the Italian fields where still doth sway 

The triple tyrant ; that from these may grow 
A hundred-fold, who, having learned thy way, 

Early may fly the Babylonian woe." 



Chapter XXVII. 

GIA NA VELL 0— THE MA SSA ORE— THE EXIL ES. 

WHILE the revolting events described in the preceding chapter 
were transpiring in the valleys of Lucerna and Angrogna, 
tragic scenes were also being enacted in the valley of Rora. This 
valley is situated on the left as one enters La Torre, and is separated 
from Lucerna by a barrier of mountains. It has two entrances, one 
by a side ravine, which branches off about two miles before reaching 
La Torre, and the other by crossing the valley of Lucerna and 
climbing the mountains. The latter is deserving of a brief descrip- 
tion. Starting from the town of La Torre and skirting the Castelluzzo 
on the right, we then, by turning to the left, find ourselv^es descend- 
ing into the valley, with its bright meadows shaded by the vine, which 
extends its arms in classic freedom from tree to tree. By passing 
over the torrent of the Pellice on a small bridge and advancing to the 
foot of the mountains of La Combe — that wall in the valley of 
Rora — we are ready to ascend by a winding path. As we proceed 
upward we discover that pasturage and vineyard disappear, and the 
chestnut forest surrounds us; climbing higher we lose sight of the 
chestnut, and see only the pine; and soon we reach that elevation 
where we stand amid the naked ledges of the mountain, with their 
gushing rills margined by moss or other Alpine herbage. After an 
ascent of two hours we come to the summit of the pass, and, while 
resting upon this pedestal, some four thousand feet in height, we can 
behold the grandeur of the stupendous amphitheater of Alps around 
us. How profoundly deep the valley at our feet from which we have 
just climbed up! The Pellice now seems like a thread of silver; the 
meadow like a patch of green a few inches square; the chestnut tree 
seems to be a mere dot, scarcely visible; while yonder are La Torre 



4 1 8 ITAL V STR UG GLING INTO LIGHT. 

and the white Villaro, so tiny in appearance that they look as if they 
could be "packed into a child's toy-box." 

While distant objects appear smaller, the mountains around us 
seem to have enlarged their bulk and increased their stature. The 
summit of the Castelluzzo towers high above us; still higher rise the 
rolling masses of the Vandalin, the lower slopes of which form a vast 
and magnificent hanging garden, excelling those which once ranked 
among the wonders oi Babylon. In the far distance a tumultuous 
sea of mountains charm the eye, here extending upward like sharp 
needles, there stretching away in long serrated ridges, and there 
rising up in massy peaks of naked granite wearing the glorious shining 
garments which Winter weaves for the giants of the Alps. Beneath 
us is the Valley of Rora, a cup of verdure some sixty miles in cir- 
cumference, its sides and bottom variously clothed with corn-field 
and meadow, with vineyard and orchard, with the walnut, the cherry, 
and fruit-bearing trees, from amid which numerous brown chalets 
cheerfully look forth. The great mountains sweep around the valley 
like a wall, and among them, pre-eminent in glory as in stature, 
stands the monarch of the Cottian Alps, Monte Viso. 

From time to time God raised up among the Waldenses mighty 
men of valor to deliver his people as he did among the ancient Jews. 
One of the most remarkable of these Vaudois was Gianavello, com- 
monly known as Captain Joshua Gianavello, a native of this same 
Valley of Rora. We learn from historical accounts of him that he 
possessed all the qualities of a great military leader — daring in cour- 
age, resolute in purpose, fertile in resource, and self-possessed in 
emergencies. He was quick to resolve and prompt to execute, 
besides having the faculty of skillful combination, which is so essen- 
tial in a commander. By his devotion and energy he succeeded in 
mitigating, to some extent, the horrors of the ''Massacre of 1655," 
and his heroism ultimately rolled back the tide of that great calamity 
and made it recoil upon its authors. On the morning of the 24th of 
April, A. D. 1655 — the same day that Pianeza stained the valleys 
of Lucerna and Angrogna with innocent blood — that inhuman leader 
sent five hundred soldiers to the Valley of Rora to murder its unsus- 
pecting and unoffending inhabitants. These soldiers ascended from 
the valley of the Pellice until they had gained the summit of the pass, 
and were already descending on the town of Rora stealthily and 
swiftly, as a herd of wolves might descend upon a sheepfold, or as, 
says Leger, ''A brood of vultures might descend upon a flock of 
harmless doves." 



GIANAVELLaS VICTORY. 419 

Glanavello, who had been expecting for some weeks an attack, 
though he knew not when or where it would be made, was vigilant 
and active. He saw the troops and at once understood their mission. 
Not a moment could be lost without endangering the inhabitants of 
Rora. Unless a speedy resistance was made not a man would be 
spared to carry the tidings of their extermination to the next com- 
mune. But how could Gianavello alone overcome an army of five 
hundred men? Determined to make a desperate effort, he hastened 
up the mountain under cover of the rocks and trees, and, on his way, 
persuaded six peasants, brave like himself, to join him in repelling 
the invaders. The heroic little band marched on until they were 
near the troop, then, concealing themselves in the bushes, they lay 
in ambush by the side of the path. The soldiers came on, never 
suspecting the trap into which they were marching. Gianavello fired 
with such precision that seven of the troop fell dead. Then reload- 
ing their pieces and adroitly changing their ground they fired again 
with like effect. The suddenness of the attack, and the invisibility 
of the enemy, surprised Pianeza's soldiers, whose frightened imagina- 
tions multiplied tenfold the number of their assailants. Resolved to 
seek safety in flight they began to retreat; but Gianavello and his 
men, springing from cover to cover like so many chamois, followed 
them, harassing their rear, and pouring upon them a deadly volley 
of bullets. Fifty-four of the invaders were found dead upon the field ; 
and thus did these seven peasants chase from their Valley of Rora 
the five hundred assassins who had come to murder its peaceful 
inhabitants. 

On that same afternoon the people of Rora, who were ignorant 
of the fearful massacre which was at that very moment proceeding in 
the valleys of their brethren, visited the marquis di Pianeza and 
complained of the attack, but he pretended to be ignorant of the- 
whole affair. "Those who invaded your valley," said he, "were a 
set of banditti. You did right to repel them. Go back to your fam- 
ilies and fear nothing. I pledge my word and honor that no evil 
shall happen to you." These words did not deceive Gianavello, whO' 
remembered the maxim enacted by the Council of Constance, and so 
often practiced in the "Valleys:" "No faith is to be kept with 
heretics." He knew that Pianeza was the agent of the "Council of 
Extirpation." The light of the following morning had scarcely 
dawned when the hero-peasant was abroad, scanning with eagle eye- 
the mountain paths that led into the valley. Soon his suspicions 

were confirmed. Six hundred men-at-arms, who were selected with 

28 



420 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

special reference to this difficult enterprise, were seen ascending the 
mountain Cassuleto, to do what their comrades of the previous day 
had failed to accomplish, Gianavello had collected a little host of 
eighteen, of whom twelve were armed with muskets and swords, and 
six with only the sling. He divided these into three parties, each 
consisting of four musketeers and two slingers, and stationed them 
in a defile, through which he saw the invaders must pass. As soon 
as the van of the enemy had entered the gorge they were saluted 
with a shower of bullets and stones from invisible hands. Every 
bullet and stone executed its mission of destruction. The first dis- 
charge brought down an officer and twelve men, and was rapidly 
followed by others equally fatal. The cry was raised, "All is lost; 
save yourselves!" The flight was precipitate, for every rock and 
bush seemed to send forth deadly missiles. Thus these murderers 
were driven from the Valley of Rora, and the Piedmontese troop 
were disgraced by a second ignominious retreat. 

The inhabitants visited Pianeza a second time and complained of 
the treatment they had received. "Concealing," as Leger says, "the 
ferocity of the tiger under the skin of the fox," he assured the dep- 
.uties that the attack had been the result of a misunderstanding, that 
.certain accusations had been brought against them, the falsity of 
vvhich had since been discovered, and now they might return to their 
homes, for they had nothing to fear. But immediately after their 
departure this treacherous leader began vigorously to prepare for a 
third attack, and organized a battalion of from eight hundred to nine 
hundred men. This host niade a rapid march next morning on Rora, 
took possession of all the avenues leading into the valley, and chas- 
ing the inhabitants to the caves of Monte Friolante, first plundered 
and then burned their dwellings. Captain Joshua Gianavello, in com- 
mand of his little troop, beheld the enemy approaching; but their 
overwhelming numbers deterred him from attacking them, and he 
waited for a more favorable opportunity. The Piedmontese soldiers 
were retiring, laden with their booty, and driving before them the 
cattle of the peasants. Gianavello, kneeling down before his hero- 
band, rendered thanks to God, who had twice saved his people, and 
prayed that the hearts and arms of his followers might be strength- 
ened to work yet another deliverance. He then attacked the spoilers, 
who, in their consternation fled up the mountain, leaving their plun- 
der behind them, and endeavored to escape into the valley of the 
Pellice, but when they reached the pass and began to descend their 
flight became yet more disastrous. The Vaudois gath.ered massive 



MASSA CRE B V PIANEZAS ARMY. 42 1 

stones and rolled them upon the retreating soldiers, at the same time 
pouring upon them a shower of bullets. These missiles did deadly 
execution, while many of the enemy in their haste fell over the prec- 
ipices, and the few who survived fled to Villaro. 

The marquis di Pianeza should have seen the finger of God in 
these events, but he was only the more filled with rage and the more 
determined to extirpate every heretic from the Valley of Rora. The 
historian, Muston, states that all the royal troops that Pianeza then 
commanded, together with those which could be spared from the 
other valleys, were assembled and made preparations to surround the 
small commune of Rora. This was now the fourth attack upon that 
territory, but the invaders were destined once more to recoil before 
the shock of its heroic defenders. Some eight thousand men were 
ready to march, but a certain Captain Mario, who made himself 
prominent in the massacre at Bobbio, desiring to appropriate the 
entire glory of this enterprise, became impatient and would not await 
the movement of the main body of the army. He marched two 
hours in advance with three companies of regular troops, few of 
whom ever returned. His soldiers, panic-stricken, rushed along the 
narrow path and crowded their ferocious and impulsive leader over 
the edge of the rock into the stream. He was seriously wounded 
and was taken to Lucerna, \\'here he died two days afterwards in 
great torment of body, and yet greater torment of mind. One of the 
three companies in this fatal expedition was composed of Irish who 
had been banished by Cromwell, and who met in this distant land 
the death they had inflicted on others in their own. 

This series of strange events, in which Pianeza was a prominent 
actor, was now coming to a close, and that military leader became 
infuriated because he had been defeated by herdsmen and thereby 
disgraced. Many of his bravest soldiers had been sacrificed. Victor 
Amadeus once observed that ''the skin of every Vaudois cost him 
fifteen of his best Italian soldiers." While some hundreds of the 
best soldiers of Pianeza were slain not one of the little troop of Gian- 
avello, dead or alive, fell into the enemy's hands. The papal com- 
mander, however, resolved to prosecute the war more vigorously and 
with a much larger army. He collected ten thousand men and 
attacked Rora on three sides at once. While Gianavello was bravely 
resisting the first troop of three thousand on the summit of the pass 
that gives entrance from the valley of the Pellice, a division of six 
thousand had entered by the ravine at the foot of the valley, and a 
third of one thousand had crossed the mountains that divide Bagnolo 



422 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

from Rora. It is impossible to describe the horrors that followed the 
entrance of these assassins. They had no compassion upon those of 
tender years, and no reverence for the gray hairs of the venerable 
sire. Neither age nor sex were respected, and happy were they who 
suffered instant death and thus escaped fearful indignities and tor- 
tures. The few spared from the sword were carried away as captives, 
and among these were the wife and the three daughters of Gianavello. 
The patriot-hero had nothing more to contend for in the Valley of 
Rora, The light of his hearth was extinguished, his village was a 
heap of smoking ruins, his fathers and brethren had fallen by the 
sword; but these accumulated calamities did not intimidate him, and 
he marched his brave troop over the mountains to the frontier of his 
country, there to take advantage of whatever opportunities Providence 
might yet open to him of defending the ancient liberties and the 
glorious faith of his people. 

Pianeza, having resolved to make a final desperate effort to crush 
the hero of Rora, first wrote to him as follows: **I exhort you for 
the last time to renounce your heresy. This is the only hope of your 
obtaining the pardon of your prince, and of saving the life of your 
wife and daughters, now my prisoners, and whom, if you continue 
obstinate, I will burn alive. As for yourself, my soldiers shall no 
longer pursue you ; but I shall set such a price upon your head as 
that were you Beelzebub himself, you shall infallibly be taken ; and 
be assured that if you fall alive into my hands, there are no torments 
with which I will not punish your rebellion." To these ferocious 
threats, Gianavello magnanimously and promptly replied: ''There 
are no torments so terrible, no death so barbarous that I would not 
choose rather than deny my Savior. Your threats can not cause me 
to renounce my faith ; they but fortify me in it. Should the marquis 
di Pianeza cause my wife and daughters to pass through the fire, it 
can but consume their mortal bodies ; their souls I commend to God, 
trusting that he will have mercy on them, and on mine should it 
please him that I fall into the marquis's hands." If Pianeza did not 
appreciate the fact that this was the most mortifying defeat he 
had yet sustained in his contest with Gianavello, he must have real- 
ized that a crusade against the Alps themselves would be as successful 
as a war against a cause which could infuse such a spirit into its 
champions. Gianavello's reply, observes Leger, * * certified him as a 
chosen instrument in the hands of God for the recovery of his coun- 
try, seemingly lost," 

The heroic peasant had rescued from the wreck of his family his 



THE BRA VE VA UDOIS. 423 

infant son, whose safety, first of all, he desired now to secure. He 
therefore placed him on his shoulders, and, crossing the frozen Alps 
which separate the valley of Lucerna from France, he intrusted him 
to the care of a relative resident at Queyras, in the valleys of the 
French Protestants. With the child he carrried thither the tidings of 
the awful massacre of his people. A feeling of intense indignation 
every- where prevailed, and many brave spirits like Gianavello were 
willing to enlist under his banner. Having greatly recruited his lit- 
tle band, he repassed the Alps in a few weeks to begin his second 
and more successful campaign. When he arrived in the ** Valleys," 
he was re-enforced by Giaheri, under whom a troop had been assem- 
bling to avenge the massacre of their brethren. In Giaheri, Captain 
Gianavello had found a companion worthy of himself and worthy of 
the cause which he was now defending. Of this heroic man Leger has 
recorded that, ''though he possessed the courage of a lion, he was 
as humble as a lamb, always giving to God the glory of his victories ; 
well versed in Scripture, and understanding controversy, and of great 
natural talent." The Vaudois race had been nearly exterminated by 
the massacre, so that these two leaders could only collect five hundred 
men. The opposing army at this time in their ** Valleys" was com- 
posed of between fifteen and twenty thousand trained soldiers. The 
faith of these two men in the God of battles must have been strong, 
else they would not have ventured with such a handful of peasants 
against such odds. They believed that God would not permit his 
cause to perish or the lamp of the ''Valleys" to be extinguished, 
and, though few in numbers, they knew that God was able, by their 
humble instrumentality, to save their country and Church. With a 
faith resting upon such a basis, these two Christian warriors un- 
sheathed the sword, and so valiantly did they wield it that soon that 
sword became the terror of the Piedmontese armies. The ancient 
promise was fulfilled, "The people that do know their God shall be 
strong and do exploits." 

To describe in detail all the prodigies of valor performed by this 
brave little host would be a difficult task ; but the record would be 
a thrilling volume. " I had always considered the Vaudois to be 
men," said Descombies, who had joined them, "but I found them 
lions." They assaulted the enemy with a fury that nothing could 
resist, and the Piedmontese troops were driven from post to post, 
from village to village, until they were soon expelled from the upper 
valleys. The war now passed down into the plain of Piedmont, 
v/here it was prosecuted with the same heroism and the same success. 



424 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

The Vaudois besieged and took several towns, and fought many pitched 
battles, achieving a victory in nearly every contest, though opposed 
by more than ten times their number. Their triumphs could hardly 
be credited were they not. recorded by historians of unimpeacha- 
ble veracity, and the accuracy of whose statements was attested by 
eye-witnesses. At the close of a day's fighting, as many as four- 
teen hundred Piedmontese soldiers were often found slain on the 
field of battle, while not more than six or seven of the Waldenses 
had fallen. Such victories seemed to be miraculous, and were so 
regarded, not only by the Vaudois themselves, but even by their foes, 
who could not refrain from expressing their conviction ''that surely 
God was on the side of the barbets. " While the Vaudois were thus 
bravely maintaining their cause by arms, and inflicting the chastise- 
ment of war on those from whom its miseries had come, tidings of 
their sufferings and oppressions were being conveyed to all the Prot- 
estant states of Europe. The reports wakened a feeling of horror, 
and the cruelty of the government of Savoy was universally and 
loudly condemned. It was generally acknowledged that such a 
recital of woe they had never before heard, but the Protestant states 
did not content themselves by simply condemning these deeds. Be- 
lieving that it was their imperative duty to interpose in behalf of this 
poor and greatly oppressed people, they adopted prompt and active 
measures. Prominent among those nations which achieved imperish- 
able honor was England, then under the protectorate of Cromwell. 
As we have already said, a Latin letter, composed by Milton, was 
sent by the protector to the duke of Savoy. In addition, Cromwell 
wrote to Louis of France, soliciting his mediation with the duke in 
behalf of the Vaudois. The letter is interesting because it expresses 
the truly catholic and noble sentiments of England : 
''Most Serene and Potent King, — 

. "After a most barbarous slaughter of persons of 
both sexes and of all ages a treaty of peace was concluded, or rather 
secret acts of hostility were committed the more securely under the 
name of a pacification. The conditions of the treaty were determined 
in your town of Pinerolo : hard conditions enough, but such as these 
poor people would gladly have agreed to, after the horrible outrages 
to which they had been exposed, provided that they had been faith- 
fully observed. But they were not observed; the meaning of the 
treaty is evaded and violated, by putting a false interpretation upon 
some of the articles, and by straining others. Many of the com- 
plainants have been deprived of their patrimonies, and many have 



CROMWELL S LETTER. 425 

been forbidden the exercise of their rehgion. New payments have 
been exacted, and a new fort has been built to keep them in check, 
from whence a disorderly soldiery make frequent sallies and plunder 
or murder all they meet. In addition to these things, fresh levies of 
troops are clandestinely preparing to march against them ; and those 
among them who profess the Roman Catholic religion have been 
advised to retire in time ; so that every thing threatens the speedy 
destruction of such as escaped the former massacre. I do therefore 
beseech and conjure your majesty not to suffer such enormities, and 
not to permit ( I will not say any prince, for surely such barbarity 
never could enter into the heart of a prince, much less of one of the 
duke's tender age, or into the mind of his mother) those accursed 
murderers to indulge in such savage ferocity, who, while they profess 
to be the servants and followers of Christ, who came into the world 
to save sinners, do blaspheme his name, and transgress his mild pre- 
cepts by the slaughter of innocent men. Oh, that your majesty, 
who has the power, and who ought to be inclined to use it, may 
deliver so many supplicants from the hands of murderers, who are 
already drunk with blood and thirst for it again, and who take pleas- 
ure in throwing the odium of their cruelty upon princes ! I implore 
your majesty not to suffer the borders of your kingdom to be pol- 
luted by such monstrous wickedness. Remember that this very race 
of people threw themselves upon the protection of your grandfather, 
King Henry IV, who was most friendly disposed towards the Protest- 
ants when the duke of Lesdiguieres passed victoriously through their 
country, as affording the most convenient passage into Italy, at the 
time he pursued the duke of Savoy in his retreat across the Alps. 
The act or instrument of that submission is still extant among the 
public records of your kingdom, in which it is provided that the 
Vaudois shall not be transferred to any other government, but upon 
the same condition that they were received under the protection of 
your invincible grandfather. As supplicants of his grandson, they 
now implore the fulfillment of this compact. 



*' Given at our Court at Westminster, this 26th of May, 1658." 
The French king undertook the mediation as requested by the 
Protestant princes, but hurried it to a conclusion before the embassa- 
dors from the Protestant states had arrived. The delegates from the 
Protestant cantons of Switzerland were present, but were not permit- 
ted to participate in the deliberations. The Grand Monarch managed 
the whole affair, and on the i8th of August, A. D. 1655, a treaty of 



426 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

peace was concluded; but it was unjust to the Waldenses. They were 
deprived of their ancient possessions on the right bank of the PelHce, 
lying toward the plain of Piedmont. Within the new boundary they 
were guaranteed liberty, of worship ; an amnesty was granted for all 
offenses committed during the war ; captives were to be restored 
when claimed ; and they were to be exempt from all imposts for five 
years, on the ground that they were so impoverished as not to be 
able to pay any thing. 

When the treaty was published, two clauses in it astonished the 
Protestant world. In the preamble the Vaudois were called rebels, 
whom it had pleased their prince graciously to receive back into 
favor ; and there was an article in the body of the deed, which no one 
remembered to have been mentioned during the negotiations, empow- 
ering the French to construct a fort above La Torre. This indicated 
the determination of the enemy to renew the war. By this treaty 
the Protestant states were deceived, their embassadors were outwit- 
ted, and the poor Waldenses were left as much as ever in power of 
the duke of Savoy and the ' ' Council for the Propagation of the 
Faith and the Extirpation of Heretics." 

After the great ** massacre of 1665" the Waldenses enjoyed com- 
parative peace for thirty years, though their enemies annoyed them 
in innumerable ways. Many of their prominent men were sent into 
exile, and Captain Gianavello and Pastor Leger had sentence of death 
passed upon them. The former retired to Geneva and the latter be- 
came pastor of a congregation at Leyden. But the storm of perse- 
cution again burst upon the ''Valleys." Louis XIV of France had 
revoked the ''Edict of Nantes, " and afterwards requested the duke of 
Savoy to exterminate the Waldenses, The young and humane Vic- 
tor Amadeus refused to do so ; but the French monarch, in his third 
message to him, threatened to send an army of fourteen thousand 
men to purge the "Valleys," which he would add to his dominions. 
Amadeus yielded; an edict was promulgated on the 31st of January, 
A. D. 1686, demanding of the Vaudois an immediate acceptance of 
the Romish faith, or death. An army of between fifteen and twenty 
thousand French and Piedmontese soldiers invaded the "Valleys," 
and more than three thousand Vaudois were massacred. The remain- 
der of the nation were imprisoned in the various fortresses of Pied- 
mont. "When they entered these dungeons," says Henri Arnaud, 
"they counted fourteen thousand healthy mountaineers; but when 
at the intercession of the Swiss deputies, their prisons were opened, 
three thousand skeletons only crawled out." In December, A. D. 



THE PA TRIO TIC FEELING. 427 

1686, they were liberated ; but a cruel edict compelled them to start 
immediately across the snowy Alps. Sick, hungry, and poorly clad, 
the exiles commenced their weary march, and after three weeks of 
untold hardship and suffering, reached Geneva on Christmas. Many 
perished on the way ; but the survivors received a hospitable wel- 
come from their Swiss brethren. A deputation of prominent citizens, 
headed by the patriarcli Gianavello, who still lived, went out to the 
frontier and escorted them to the city. 



Chapter XXVIII. 

THE RETURN OF THE WALDENSES. 

A BRIGHTER day now dawned upon the Waldenses. We have 
seen three thousand of them in exile entering the gates of 
Geneva, the feeble remnant of a population of from fourteen to six- 
teen thousand. All could not be accommodated in one city, and 
therefore arrangements were made for distributing them among the 
reformed cantons. A short time before, the revocation of the Edict 
of Nantes had thrown thousands of French Protestants upon the 
hospitality of the Swiss, and the arrival of the Waldensian refugees 
made yet heavier demands on the public and private charity of the 
Swiss cantons. Protestant Helvetia, however, responded with equal 
cordiality in the case of the Vaudois as they did in that of the 
French, and perhaps even more so, in view of their greater destitu- 
tion. Nor were the expatriated Waldenses ungrateful. ''Next to 
God, whose tender mercies have preserved us from being entirely 
consumed," said they to their kind benefactors, **we are indebted to 
you alone for life and liberty." 

Several of the German princes opened their states to the exiles; 
but their great enemy, Louis XIV, exerted such a powerful influence 
in these parts that they could not reside in peace. His emissaries 
were constantly watching them and tampering with their patrons. 
While being moved about from place to place they began anx- 
iously to discuss the question of their permanent settlement in the 
future. Among the projects that were suggested was that of con- 
veying them across the sea in the ships of Holland, and planting 
them at the Cape. Their hearts were filled with intolerable anguish 
when they thought of the possibility of never again beholding their 



428 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

native land, which was dearer to them in exile than when they dwelt 
in it. After three years of banishment from it they began to ask 
themselves the question whether they were not able to reassemble 
their scattered colonies, return to their valleys, and rekindle their 
ancient lamp in them. As they wandered by the banks of the 
Rhine, or traversed the German plains, they delighted to feast their 
imaginations on their far-off homes. A picture of the past rose be- 
fore them — the chestnuts shading their former abodes, the vines 
bending gracefully over their portal, and the green meadow spread- 
ing out in front, rende^'ed perpetually bright by the crystal stream 
whose murmur sweetly blended with the evening psalm. Whenever 
they knelt to pray, their faces were turned towards their grand 
mountains, where slept their martyred fathers. The duke of Savoy 
had made several efforts to introduce into their territory a mongrel 
race, partly Irish and partly Piedmontese ; but the land, as if un- 
friendly to the strangers, refused to be productive. The spies whom 
the Vaudois had sent to examine its condition reported that its fields 
were uncultivated, its vines unpruned ; its ruins had not been re- 
paired, and it was almost as desolate as on the day when its sons 
had been banished from it. It appeared to them that the land was 
waiting their return. 

At length they could no longer repress the yearning of their 
hearts. The loth of June, A. D. 1688, was the day appointed for 
commencing their expedition. Leaving their various cantonments in 
Switzerland, and taking by-roads, they traveled through the country 
by night and assembled at Bex, a small town in the southern ex- 
tremity of the territory of Bern. The senates of Zurich, Bern, and 
Geneva received intelligence of their secret march, and, foreseeing 
that the departure of the exiles would compromise them with the 
popish powers, their excellencies adopted measures to prevent it. A 
boat containing arms for their use was seized on the lake of Geneva. 
The inhabitants of the valleys, in concert with the Savoyards, at the 
first alarm seized the bridge of St. Maurice, the key of the Rhone 
valley, and stopped the expedition. To extinguish all hope of their 
return to the valleys they were distributed anew over Germany; but 
scarcely had this second dispersion occurred when war broke out. 
The palatinate was overrun by the French troops, and the Vaudois 
who had settled there, dreading, not without reason, the soldiers of 
Louis XIV, retired before them and started for Switzerland. The 
condition of these poor exiles, tossed from country to country by 
political storms, excited the compassion of the Protestant cantons, 



HENRI ARNA UD. 429 

and they settled them again in their former allotments. In the mean 
time important events were occurring in the nations around them, 
and the expatriated Waldenses, with uplifted hearts, waited the 
result. They saw their protector, William of Orange, mount the 
throne of England. They beheld their powerful enemy, Louis XIV, 
attacked at once by the emperor and humiliated by the Dutch. 
They saw their own prince, Victor Amadeus, withdraw his soldiers 
from Savoy because he needed them to defend Piedmont. It ap- 
peared to the Waldenses that an invisible hand was opening up their 
path to return to their native land. 

These indications encouraged them to prepare a second time for 
their departure. They selected as their place of rendezvous a wood 
on the northern shore of the Leman, near the town of Noyon. For 
days before they came in scattered bands from various directions,^ 
converging by stealthy marches on the point designated. On the 
decisive evening, the i6th of August, A. D. 1689, a general muster 
occurred under cover of the friendly wood of Prangius. After com- 
mending their enterprise to God in solemn prayer, they embarked 
on the lake, and crossed by starlight. These means of transporta- 
tion were fortunately provided by a circumstance which threatened at 
first to defeat their plan, but which in the end greatly facilitated it. 
Many people had been draw^n by curiosity to this part of the lake, 
and the boats which conveyed these sight-seers became the means 
of escape to the Vaudois. 

In this emergency, as in others which arose in the past, a distin- 
guished man was raised up to lead them, Henri Arnaud, who was 
born at La Tour, in Piedmont, A. D. 1641. His early history is 
obscure ; but it is said that he at first served as a pastor, until the 
troubles of his nation compelled him to leave the valleys. Will- 
iam III of England gave him a colonel's commission, and he acquired 
great distinction as a military commander, at the head of twelve 
hundred Vaudois, under Marlborough. He was a man of decided 
piety, ardent patriotism, and of great decision and courage, combin- 
ing in a remarkable manner the qualities of the pastor and the sol- 
dier. It is difficult to say whether his soldiers listened more rev- 
erentially to his occasional exhortations from the pulpit or to the 
orders he gave them on the field of battle. These eight hundred 
Vaudois, after their arrival on the southern shore of the lake, bowed 
before God in prayer, and began their march through a country con- 
taining numerous enemies. The lofty snow -clad mountains over 
Avhich they were to fight their way rose before them, but Arnaud 



430 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

was not discouraged. Arranging his little company into three divi- 
sions — an advanced guard, a center, and a rear -guard — he traversed 
the valley of the Arve to Sallenches, and seized the chief men as 
hostages. Just as the soldiers of Arnaud emerged from its dangerous 
passes the inhabitants of Sallenches had completed their preparations 
for resisting them. Occasional skirmishes occurred during their 
march; but as a general thing they encountered slight opposition, 
for the terror of God seemed to have fallen upon the people of Savoy. 

The Vaudois continued to advance, and climbed the Haut Luce 
Alp, which was so named by the author of the ^'Rentree," from 
the village at its foot, but which, without doubt, says Monastier, is 
the Col Joli, seven thousand two hundred and forty feet high, or the 
Col de la Fenetre, or Portetta, as it was named to M. Brockedon, who 
has visited these countries and traveled the same road as the Vaudois. 
They next crossed Bon Hornme, the neighboring Alp to Mont 
Blanc, sometimes sinking to their middle in snow, and then subjected 
to both toil and danger by treacherous glaciers and steep precipices. 
To add to their discomfort the rain fell in torrents, and thoroughly 
saturated them. Their provisions were growing scanty ; but the 
shepherds of the mountains recruited their supplies with bread and 
cheese, and at night welcomed them to their huts. At every stage 
the Vaudois renewed their hostages; sometimes they "caged" — to 
use their own phrase — a Capuchin monk, and at other times an 
influential landlord ; but all were kindly treated. After crossing the 
Bon Homme, which divides the basin of the Arve from that of the 
Iser, they descended, on Wednesday, the fifth day of their march, 
into the valley of the latter stream, where they anticipated oppo- 
sition, as the numerous population of that region was known to be 
well-armed and decidedly hostile; but they did not disturb the Vau- 
dois. The latter marched forward, traversing Mount Iserna, and 
also the yet more formidable Mount Cenis, and finally descended 
into the valley of the Dora. 

On Saturday, the 24th of August, they encountered a considera- 
ble body of regular soldiers in that valley. At first they met a 
peasant, of whom they inquired whether they could have provisions 
by purchasing them. ''Come on this way," said the man, in a tone 
which seemed to indicate that he was elated ; ' * you will find all that 
you want; they are preparing an excellent supper for you." Fol- 
lowing him into the defile of Salabertrand, where the Col d'Albin 
closes in upon the stream of the Dora, they found themselves sud- 
denly ushered into the presence of a French army, whose camp- 



THE RESULTS OF THE BATTLE. 43 1 

fires — for night had come — illumined the opposite slope far and wide. 
It was impossible for the Vaudois to retreat. The French were two 
thousand five hundred strong, flanked by the garrison of exiles, and 
supported by a miscellaneous crowd of armed followers. The Vau- 
dois advanced in the dark to the bridge which crossed the Dora, on 
the opposite banks of which the French were encamped. To the 
challenge, "Who goes there?" the Vaudois answered, "Friends." 
The instant reply shouted out was, "Kill! kill!" followed by a tre- 
mendous fire, which was kept up for about fifteen minutes. It did 
no harm, however, for Arnaud commanded his soldiers to fall flat 
on their faces and permit the deadly shower to pass over them. But 
now a division of the French appeared in the rear of the Vaudois, 
thus placing them between two fires. Some one in Arnaud's army, 
seeing that all must be risked, shouted out, "Courage! the bridge 
is won." At these words the Vaudois started to their feet, rushed 
across the bridge sword in hand, and, clearing it, they threw them- 
selves with the impetuosity of a whirlwind upon the enemy's in- 
trenchments. Confounded by the suddenness of the attack, the 
French could only use the butt -ends of their muskets to defend 
themselves. The fighting lasted two hours, and ended in the total 
rout of the French. Their leader, the marquis de Larr, after a fruit- 
less attempt to rally his soldiers, fled wounded to Briancon, exclaim- 
ing, "Is it possible I have lost the battle and my honor?" 

In a short time after the battle the moon rose, and revealed the 
field of conflict to the victors. On it, stretched out in death, lay six 
hundred French soldiers, besides officers ; while arms, military stores, 
and provisions were strewn promiscuously among the dead. Thus 
had been suddenly opened an armory and magazines to men who 
greatly needed both weapons and food. Having amply replenished 
themselves, they collected into a heap what they could not carry 
away, and burned it. The explosion of the gunpowder, the sound- 
ing of the trumpets, and the shouting of the captains, who, throwing 
their caps in the air, exclaimed, "Thanks be to the Lord of hosts, 
who hath given us the victory!" awakened the silence of the valleys 
and reverberated from mountain to mountain. 

This great victory cost the Waldenses only fifteen killed and 
twelve wounded. They were very much fatigued; but, fearing to 
halt on the battle-field, they aroused those who had already sunk into 
sleep, and commenced to climb the lofty Mont Sci. The day was 
breaking as they gained the summit. It was the Lord's-day, and 
Henri Arnaud, halting until all should assemble, pointed out to 



432 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

them, just as they were becoming visible in the morning Hght, the 
mountain-tops of their own land. No sight was ever more welcome 
to their longing eyes. Bathed in the radiance of the rising sun, it 
seemed to them, as one snowy peak began to burn after another, 
that the mountains were kindling into joy at the return of their 
long -absent sons. This army of soldiers resolved itself into a con- 
gregation of worshipers, and the summit of Mont Sci became their 
church. Kneeling on the mountain-top, the battle-field below them, 
and the solemn and sacred peaks of the Col du Pis, the Col la 
Vachera, and the glorious Monte Viso looking down upon them in 
reverent silence, they humbled themselves before the Almighty, con- 
fessing their sins, and giving thanks for their many deliverances. 
From this assembly of warrior-worshipers, gathered under the dome- 
like vault that rose over them, the offering of sincere and devout 
thanksgiving ascended to God. 

This heroic band, invigorated by the services of the Sabbath, 
and encouraged by their recent victory, rapidly descended to the 
valley of Clusone, which is about two miles in Avidth, and is watered 
by the broad, clear Germagasca. Before they could enter San Mar- 
tino, one of the grandest of their "Valleys," they were compelled 
to pass through a narrow defile which was guarded by a detachment 
of Piedmontese soldiers, but the latter fled at the approach of the 
Vaudois. These brave mountaineers rushed through the open gate, 
and, on the twelfth day after departing from the shores of Leman, 
stood once more within the limits of their inheritance. They dis- 
covered, when they reached Balsiglia, in the western extremity of San 
Martino, that fatigue, desertion, and battle had reduced their num- 
bers from eight hundred to seven hundred. 

The Vaudois spent the first Sabbath after their arrival at the 
village of Prali, where they found the only sanctuary that remained 
standing in the "Valleys." They resolved to restore their ancient 
and Scriptural worship, and made a good beginning by purging the 
church of its popish ornaments. As the edifice was too small to 
contain all, a portion of the valiant army stood without, while Henri 
Arnaud, the soldier-pastor, mounted a table which was placed in the 
porch, and preached to them. They commenced their worship by 
chanting the seventy-fourth Psalm: *'0 God, why hast thou cast us 
off forever ? Why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy 
pasture?" etc. The text selected for the occasion was the one hun- 
dred and twenty-ninth Psalm, and Arnaud reviewed the wonderful 
history of the Vaudois, at the same time urging his people to emu- 



THE SER VICE A T PR ALL 



433 



late the glorious achievements of their fathers. The service was 
closed by these seven hundred warriors chanting in magnificent 
chorus the Psalm from which their leader had preached ; and while 




^iiiiiJiiiLi:iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii;: ii^^ 



engaged in these devotional exercises they no doubt recalled the fact 
that the village of Prali had been the scene of a revolting outrage at 
the time of their exodus. The pastor of the church at that place, 



434 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

M. Leidet, a deeply pious man, had been discovered by the soldiers 
while he was praying under a rock, and, after being dragged forth, he 
was first tortured, then mutilated, and finally executed, his last words 
being those of the sainted Stephen, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" 
For more than three years the enemies of the Gospel had prevented 
the preaching of the truth in Prali, and it seemed appropriate that 
the Vaudois should recommence Protestant worship in the sanctuary 
of the martyr Leidet. 



Chapter XXIX. 

THE WALDENSES RE-ESTABLISHED IN THEIR VALLEYS. 

WHILE the Vaudois had entered the land they had not yet 
obtained control of it ; and what could they, a mere handful, 
accomplish in a contest with the large and well-appointed Piedmon- 
tese army, aided by the French? Their great leader, however, was a 
man of wonderful courage, and with this was combined a strong 
faith. They believed that the "cloud" which had directed their 
steps over the lofty mountains, with their snows and abysses, would 
cover their camp and lead them to victory on the battle-field. Hav- 
ing succeeded, after a marvelous journey, in reaching their native 
land, they were confident that they would be able to possess it. 
With these inspiring hopes to sustain them, the brave seven hundred 
commenced the arduous task before them. 

As they climbed the Col Julien, which separates Prali from Lu- 
cerna, the fertile and central valley of the Waldenses, and came near 
the summit of the pass, the Piedmontese soldiers, who had been sta- 
tioned there shouted out, "Come on, ye barbets ; we guard the pass, 
and there are three thousand of us!" They did come on, and in a 
few moments forced the intrenchments, and put to flight the gar- 
rison. The Vaudois found in the evacuated camp a store of ammu- 
nition and provisions, which to them was a very seasonable booty. 
They descended rapidly the slopes and precipices of the mountain 
and surprised the town of Bobbio, which nestles at its foot. Driv- 
ing out the popish inhabitants, they entered their ancient dwellings 
and resolved to rest a short time after the march and conflict of the 
previous days. Here they spent their second Sabbath, the congre- 
gation celebrating public worship and "chanting their psalm to 



THE WALDENSES AT VILLA RO. 435 

the clash of arms." On the following day they went to the 
**Rock of Sibaud," where their fathers had pledged their faith to 
God and to one another, and there, on the same sacred spot they 
renewed their ancient oath, swearing with uplifted hand to cfbide 
steadfastly in the profession of the Gospel, to stand by one another, 
and never lay down their arms till they had re-established themselves 
and their brethren in those "Valleys," which they believed had as 
really been given to them by the God of heaven as Palestine had 
been to the Jews. 

Marching to Villaro, which is situated half-way between Bobbio 
at the head and La Torre at the entrance of the valley, they stormed 
it, and taking possession expelled the new inhabitants. But the 
Vaudois could not advance further in their career of conquest, but 
were compelled by a strong re- enforcement of regular troops to 
abandon Villaro the next day, and fall back on Bobbio. This pat- 
riot army was now divided into two bands, and for many weeks 
were under the necessity of waging a sort of guerrilla war on the 
mountains. Desiring to exterminate this little company of warriors, 
France on the one side and Piedmont on the other continued to 
pour in soldiers. The Vaudois not only won marvelous victories in 
their daily skirmishes, but also endured great privations and hard- 
ships. While they were constantly conquering, their ranks were rap- 
idly thinning. Even if a hundred of the enemy were slain, vv-hile 
only one Waldensian fell, the former could recruit their numbers, but 
the latter could not. Besides, they had now neither ammunition nor 
provisions except what they had captured from their enemies ; and to 
increase their perplexities, Winter was near, and soon their mount- 
ains would be buried beneath the snow, leaving them without food 
and shelter. They held a council of war, and finally resolved to 
march to the valley of Martino and intrench themselves on La 
Balsiglia. 

As this was the last heroic stand of the returned exiles, a descrip- 
tion of the natural strength and grandeur of the Balsiglia may be 
interesting. It is situated at the western extremity of San Martino, 
extending five miles in length and about two in width, having as its 
floor the richest meadow-land, and for walls mountains superbly deco- 
rated with terraces, abundantly covered with flower and fruitage, and 
its summit ramparted with dark peaks and splintered cliffs. It is 
closed at its western extremity by the naked face of a perpendicular 
mountain, down which the Germagnasca dashes like a flood o{ silver. 

The bosom of the valley is clothed with meadows and woods, through 

29 



436 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

which the torrent runs, forming a seam both broad and white, its bed 
being strewn with many rocks, that give it the appearance of a con- 
tinuous river of foam. The mountains, which constitute the walls of 
this valley, are exceedingly picturesque. Advancing up it the trav- 
eler beholds on the right a succession of terraced vineyards rising 
up, finely diversified with corn-fields and massy knolls of rock 
crowned with cottages or hamlets, which look out amid their rich em- 
bowerings of chestnut and apple-tree. Leaving this fruit-bearing zone, 
and ascending higher, we find the grassy uplands, the resort of herds- 
men, and above these tower the rocky ridges that rise in wavy and 
serrated lines and run off to the higher summits, which recede into 
the clouds. The mountain-wall on the left is more precipitous, but 
equally rich in its clothing. A carpeting of delicious sward envelops 
its foot, while the bright sunlight shines here and there upon it 
through the overarching branches of trees, vast in circumference. 
Higher up, fields of maize and forests of chestnut present them- 
selves to view, and higher still is seen the rock-loving birch with 
its silvery stem and graceful tresses. A bristling line of firs runs 
along the splintered rocks on the summit, "forming a mighty cJicv- 
mix-de-frise,'' Toward the head of the valley, near the vast per- 
pendicular cliff already mentioned, which shuts it in on the west, 
is seen a glorious assemblage of mountains. "One mighty cone 
uplifts itself above and behind another mighty, till the last and high- 
est buries its top in the rolling masses of cloud, which are seen 
usually hanging like a canopy above this part of the valley. These 
noble aiguilles, four in number, rise feathery with firs, and remind 
one of the fretted pinnacles of some colossal cathedral. This is La 
Balsiglia." 

Henri Arnaud, with his patriot warriors, pitched his camp on the 
terraces of this mountain amid the dark tempests of Winter, and the 
yet darker tempests of a furious and armed bigotry. The Balsiglia, 
as if proudly conscious of having once been the resting-place of the 
Vaudois ark, shoots its gigantic pyramids towards heaven. Man, 
with all his skill, could not erect a castle so mighty and grand ; it 
had for its builder the almighty Architect himself Behind the Bal- 
siglia, on the west, stands the lofty Col du Pis, which rarely permits 
the spectator to behold his full stature, for his dark sides run up and 
bury themselves in the clouds. Face to face with the Col du Pis, 
stands on the other side of the valley the yet loftier Mont Guinevert, 
with most commonly a veil of cloud around him, as if he too were 
unwilling to allow the visitor to gaze upon his stately proportions. 



THE GIANT ALPS. 437 

Thus do these two Alps, Hke twin giants, guard this valley, famous 
in the wars of conscience and liberty. With his army, now, alas, 
reduced to four hundred persons, Henri Arnaud encamped on the 
lower terrace of this pyramidal mountain, the Balsiglia. When seen 
from the level of the valley, the peak appears to terminate in a point, 
but on ascending the top expands into a grassy plateau. Its sides, 
like those of an escarped fortress, could not be scaled ; and the only 
avenue of approach was by the bed of the torrent. The skill of 
Arnaud enabled him to add the defenses of art to the natural strength 
of the Vaudois position. They erected huts as temporary barracks ; 
they dug out some four-score cellars in the rock to hold provisions; 
they constructed covered ways and inclosed themselves within earthen 
walls and ditches. Three springs, that gushed out of the rock, sup- 
plied them with water. By building intrenchments on each of the* 
three peaks that rose above them they could, if the first was* taken, 
ascend to the second, and so on. A sentinel was placed on the loft- 
iest summit of the Balsiglia, v/hich commanded a view of the entire 
valley, to watch the movements of the enemy. 

After three days had elapsed, four battalions of the French army 
arrived and surrounded the Balsiglia on every side. On the 29th of 
October the Vaudois position was attacked, but the enem}' were 
repulsed with great slaughter without the loss of a single man to the 
defenders. The snows of early Winter having commenced to fall, 
the French general resolved to defer the capture of the Balsiglia until 
Spring. He first destroyed all the corn which the Vaudois had col- 
lected and stored in their villages, and then began his retreat from 
San Martino. In a laconic manner he bade farewell to the Walden- 
ses, and requested them to be patient until Easter, when he would 
again visit them. During the Winter of A. D. 1689-90, the Vaudois 
remained in their mountain fortress, not only enjoying the rest which 
they needed after the marches, battles, and sieges of the previous 
months, but also preparing for the promised return of the French. 
Wherever Henri Arnaud encamped there he erected his altar, and if 
from that mountain-top the shout of battle pealed forth, from it 
ascended also morning and night the psalm and the prayer. Besides 
the daily devotions he preached a sermon on each Thursday and 
Sunday, and at stated times administered the Lord's-supper. Proper 
care was taken to prevent the commissariat from being exhausted. 
Foraging parties brought in wine, chestnuts, apples, and other fruits, 
which the Autumn now far advanced had ripened. An incursion 
was made by a strong detachment into the French valleys of Pragelas 



438 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

and Queyras, and returned with salt, butter, some hundred head of 
sheep, and a few oxen. The enemy before departing had destroyed 
their stock of grain, and as the fields were long since reaped, the 
Waldenses despaired of being able to repair their loss. 

In this emergency they found relief in an unexpected quarter. 
The snow that year began to fall earlier than usual and covered up 
the ripened corn, which the popish inhabitants had not time to cut 
when the approach of the Vaudois compelled them to flee. This 
ample magazine of grain remained unknown to the Waldenses for 
some time, and was discovered when they needed it most. From 
this store-house the garrison obtained supplies which had been pro- 
vided in such a marvelous way as to convince them that He who 
feeds the fowls of the air was caring for them. They had bread to 
last them during the entire Winter. Little did the popish peasantry 
dream, when they sowed the seed in the Spring, that the Vadois hands 
would reap the harvest. To Vaudois eyes corn had been provided 
almost as miraculously as was the manna for the Israelites, but how 
could they grind it into meal? There is a little mill on the stream 
of the Germagnasca and almost at the foot of the Balsiglia. The 
owner, M. Tron-Poulat, three years before, when going forth into 
exile with his brethren, threw the millstone into the river; "for," 
said he, "it may yet be needed." The necessity now existed, search 
was made, the stone was found, drawn out of the stream, and again 
put to work in the mill. At the entrance of the valley there was 
another and more distant mill, to which the garrison had recourse 
when the enemy occupied the immediate precincts of the Balsiglia 
and the nearer mill was not available. "Both mills," says Dr. WyHe, 
"exist to this day; their roofs of brown slate may be seen by the 
visitor peering up through the luxuriant foliage of the valle}^, the 
wheel, motionless it may be, and the torrent which turned it shooting 
idly past in a volley of spray." 

The army of France and Piedmont reappeared in the Spring and 
completely invested the Balsiglia. The celebrated De Catinat, lieu- 
tenant-general of the armies of France, commanded the combined 
force, which amounted to twenty-two thousand in all — ten thousand 
French and twelve thousand Piedmontese. The "four hundred" 
Waldenses from their camp of rock beheld the valley beneath them 
glittering with steel by day and shining with camp-fires by night, 
De Catinat confidently believed that he could capture the place by a 
single day's fighting, and, desiring to celebrate the victory which he 
regarded as already won, he ordered four hundred ropes to be sent 



CA TINA T DEFEA TED. 439 

along with the army in order to hang at once the four hundred Wal- 
denses. He had also commanded the inhabitants of Pinerolo to 
prepare feux de joie to grace his return from the campaign. The 
headquarters of the French were at Great Passet, so called in contra- 
distinction to Little Passet, situated a mile lower in the valley. Great 
Passet has some thirty roofs, and is situated on an immense ledge of 
rock which runs out from the foot of Mont Guinevert, some eight 
hundred feet above the stream, and right opposite Balsiglia. The 
ruts worn by the cannon and baggage wagons of the French army 
are still visible on the flanks of this rocky ledge. These marks are 
unquestionably the memorials of the siege, for no other wheeled 
vehicles ever were in these mountains. 

Having reconnoitered, Catinat, on the ist of May, A. D. 1690, 
ordered the assault to be made on that side of the Balsiglia which 
alone offers any chance of success. At every other point a wall of 
rock rises up, but at this a stream trickles down from the mountains 
and makes a gradual slope. But Henri Arnaud had taken care to 
fortify this point with strong palisades. Five hundred picked men, 
supported by seven thousand musketeers, advanced to storm the 
fortress. Rushing forward with ardor, they threw themselves upon 
the palisades, which they could not tear down, formed as they were 
of great trunks fastened by mighty bowlders. The Vaudois were 
massed behind the defense, the younger men loading the muskets 
and the veterans taking steady aim. At every volley the besiegers 
fell in dozens. When the Waldenses saw that the assailants were 
beginning to waver, they, with sword in hand, made a fierce sally, 
and cut in pieces those whom the musket had spared. A few score 
only of the five hundred picked soldiers lived to reach the main body 
of the army which from the valley beheld their total rout. It may 
appear incredible, but the statement is true that not a Vaudois was 
killed or wounded, not one of them was touched by a bullet. The 
fire-works which Catinat was anxious to have ready for the celebra- 
tion of his victory were not needed that night, and the men of Pine- 
rolo were disappointed. 

The French were now convinced that the fortress could not be 
reduced by other means, and accordingly brought up their cannon. 
The preparations being complete, the last and grand assault was made 
on the 14th of May. An immense knoll extends across the ravine, 
in which the recent conflict occurred, and is on an equal level with 
the point where the Waldenses had constructed their lower intrench- 
ments. To this rock the cannon were hoisted up to play upon the 



440 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

fortress. Never before had the rocks of San Martino been shaken 
by the sound of artillery. It was the morning of Whit-Sunday, and 
the Waldenses were preparing to celebrate the Lord's-supper when 
they heard the first boom from the enemy's battery. The cannon- 
ading continued all day, its terrible noises re-echoing from rock to 
rock, and rolling upwards to the summits of the Col du Pis and the 
Mont Guinevert, being still further heightened by the thousands of 
musketeers who were stationed all around the Balsiglia. When night 
came the ramparts of the Waldenses were in ruins and it was evident 
that the defense could not be maintained any longer. What was 
now to be done? For the moment the cannonading had ceased, but 
the attack would certainly be renewed at dawn. 

The Vaudois had been frequently threatened with utter destruc- 
tion, but never before did it appear to impend so inevitably over 
them. To remain where they were was certain death, yet no way 
of escape opened to them. The unscalable precipices of the Col du 
Pis rose behind them, and the valley swarming with their foes was 
beneath them. If they should wait until the morning dawned it 
would be impossible to pass the enemy without being seen, and the 
night was rendered almost as bright as day by the numerous camp- 
fires which burned beneath them. But the hour of their extremity 
was the time of God's opportunity. Often before there seemed to be 
a special divine interposition in their behalf, but perhaps it was 
never so strikingly displayed as now. The Vaudois looked in every 
direction to find some way of escape from the net which inclosed 
them, but in vain. Suddenly the mist began to gather on the sum- 
mits of the mountains around them. They immediately recognized 
the old mantle that covered their fathers in the hour of peril. It 
crept lower and yet lower on the great mountains. Now it touched 
the supreme peak of the Balsiglia. Will it mock their hopes ? Will 
it only touch and not cover their military camp? The Vaudois 
behold it still rolling downward until its white fleecy billows cover 
the war-battered fortress. The handful of heroic defenders are now 
within its sheltering folds. As yet they dared not attempt escape 
because the watch-fires burned brightly in the valley. But in a few 
minutes more the mist in its downward course reached the enemy's 
camp, and all was dark. A Tartarean gloom filled the gorge of San 
Martino. While the garrison stood mute, pondering what the next 
moment would develop, Captain Poulat, a native of that region, 
broke the silence by commanding them to be of good courage, for 
he was acquainted with the paths and would conduct them in safety 



OVERTURES OF PEACE. 441 

past the French and Piedmontese Hnes by a track known only to 
himself. Crawling on their hand and knees and passing close to 
the French sentinels, yet concealed from them by the mist, they 
descended frightful precipices and escaped. *'He who has not seen 
such paths," says Arnaud in his ''Rmtree Glorieuse,'' "can not conceive 
the danger of them, and will be inclined to consider my account of 
the march mere fiction. But it is strictly true, and I must add the 
place is so frightful that even some of the Vaudois themselves were 
terror-struck when they saw, by daylight, the nature of the spot they 
had passed in the dark." When the day appeared every eye in the 
plain below was directed toward the Balsiglia. On that day the four 
hundred ropes which Catinat had brought with him were to be put 
in requisition, and the faix de joie, so long prepared, were to be 
lighted in Pinerolo. 

To the amazement of the enemy the Vaudois had escaped, and 
could be seen climbing the snowy sides of the distant mountains, far 
beyond the reach of their would-be captors. Well might they sing : 
"Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler: the 
snare is broken and we are escaped." During several days they 
wandered from hill to hill, or concealed themselves in the wood, suf- 
fering great privations and encountering numerous perils. At last 
they succeeded in caching the Pra del Tor. When they arrived at 
this celebrated and hallowed spot, they were astonished and delighted 
to find deputies from their prince, the duke of Savoy, with overtures 
of peace. The Vaudois were as men that dream. An overture of 
peace ! It seemed incredible. What did it mean ? A coalition, 
including Germany, Great Britain, Holland, and Spain, had been 
formed to check the ambition of France, and three days had been 
given to Victor Amadeus to decide what course he would pursue. 
He resolved to break with Louis XIV and unite with the "Leaguers." 
In such a contest, to whom could he so well commit the keys of the 
Alps as to his trusty Vaudois? Hence the overtures that met them 
in the Pra del Tor. Ever willing to rally around the throne of their 
prince, they accepted the terms of peace. Their towns and lands 
were restored ; their churches were reopened for Protestant worship ; 
their brethren, still in prison at Turin, were liberated, and the colo- 
nists of their countrymen had passports to return to their homes. 
Thus, after a gloomy interval of three years and a half, the valleys 
were again peopled with their ancient race, and resounded with their 
ancient songs. 



442 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT, 

Chapter XXX. 

FOREIGN RULE IN ITALY— PROMINENT POPES AND WRITERS. 

DURING nearly the whole of the eighteenth century Italy was 
the battle-ground of Europe. Many of the most prominent 
questions of the period were fought out on its soil, and its territory 
was divided at pleasure by foreign sovereigns, who never regarded or 
consulted the wishes of the Italian people as to these arrangements. 
The war of the Spanish succession had a most important bearing 
upon the destinies of Italy, which was the scene of a part of it. By 
the peace of Utrecht, A. D. 1713, the Emperor Charles VI received 
Milan, Naples, and Sardinia. The duke of Mantua, having been the 
ally of France in this war, was deprived of his duchy. The duke 
of Savoy, for his assistance to the house of Austria, was given the 
island of Sicily, with the title of king, and in the same year was 
crowned at Palermo. Thus Italy passed from under the power of 
Spain into the hands of Austria ; a change for the better, though the 
Austrian rule proved to be very oppressive. Savoy also received 
Montferrat, Alessandria, and some towns in Lombardy, and was 
recognized by the treaty as an independent power, or in other words, 
was relieved of all its former obligations to the empire. 

Philip V, of Spain, was not satisfied with the provisions of the 
treaty of Utrecht, and was determined to regain a footing in Italy at 
the earliest opportunity. On the death of his wife, who was the 
daughter of the duke of Savoy, he married Elizabeth Farnese, the 
heiress of the duke of Parma. This marriage made him the lawful 
heir to that duchy, and to Piacenza, and also gave him a claim to 
the succession to the grand duchy of Tuscany, the reigning duke of 
which was childless, as the queen of Spain claimed to be descended 
from a daughter of Duke Cosmo II. This marriage greatly displeased 
the Emperor Charles VI, who was himself a candidate for the suc- 
cession to the duchy of Tuscany. Philip was not yet satisfied with 
what he had done, but, in violation of the terms of the treaty of 
Utrecht, seized the island of Sardinia, which was held by the Aus- 
trians, and prepared to send an army into Sicily. England, France, 
Holland, and the emperor made a league known as the Quadruple 
Alliance, and an English fleet under Admiral Byng was dispatched 
to the Mediterranean in the Summer of 1718. Byng annihilated the 



AMADEUS IT. 443 

Spanish fleet in a battle off Cape Passaro, and Spain was compelled 
to relinquish Sardinia. The king of Sicily was believed to have 
favored the course of Philip, and was obliged to surrender his island 
kingdom to Austria, which gave him in exchange for it the barren 
and rocky island of Sardinia. The emperor by this transfer became 
king of the two Sicilies, as he was already king of Naples. The 
duke of Savoy was thus cut off from participation in the disputes 
between Austria and Spain, and was able to give his whole attention 
to the development of his kingdom. One of the first acts of Victor 
Amadeus was to deprive the Jesuits of their control of public educa- 
tion, as the power they enjoyed in consequenc of this control had 
made them dangerous to the welfare of the state. This action was 
very popular, and did much to strengthen the national feeling in 
the new kingdom. 

The conduct of Victor Amadeus II toward the Waldenses is dis- 
creditable to his name and reign. These unfortunate people, in the 
wonderful providence of God, were saved from extermination by the 
rupture which occurred between Savoy and France, A. D. 1701. The 
duke seemed to feel that he had done wrong in his former severe 
treatment of them, and was disposed to do all that he could to assure 
them of his good will. They were now restored to their native val- 
leys, and cheerfully went to work to cultivate their little farms, and 
endeavored in the joys of the present to forget the sorrows of the 
past. And no sooner did the duke of Savoy ask their assistance in 
the long war which he was compelled to carry on against the French 
than they promptly rendered it. Such were their bravery and fidelity, 
that not only did they often gain the applause of their native prince, 
Victor Amadeus II, but also that of Prince Eugene of Savoy, who 
entered Lombardy in May, A. D. 1701, with a powerful force, raised 
the siege of Turin, and drove the French under Marshal Catinat 
from the region between the Adige and the Adda. This war, which 
secured the safety of the Waldenses, was prosecuted with great vigor. 
Marshal Villeroi succeeded Catinat, but was defeated by Eugene at 
Chiari and Cremona, and the year closed disastrously to the French. 
The French and Spanish forces were commanded for a few months, 
A. D. 1702, by Philip V, but no decisive battles were fought in 
Piedmont. In August, A. D. 1705, the French under the duke of 
Vendome defeated Prince Eugene at Cassano. In April, A. D. 1706, 
Eugene gained a victory of the French at Calcinato, and was prepar- 
ing to follow up this success by driving them out of Turin, when he 
was ordered to join the allied forces in Flanders. In the Autumn of 



444 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

the same year, Turin was invested by the French, under the duke of 
Orleans, nephew of the king of France, and Marshal Marsin. The 
duke of Savoy fled, and was compelled to seek refuge among the 
Waldenses in the Valley of Rora ; but, receiving information that 
Prince Eugene was returning from Flanders, he went forth with some 
troops to meet him, and after uniting their forces, both advanced to 
the relief of Turin. On the 7th of September, A. D. 1 706, the 
French intrenchments were stormed, and the besieging army scat- 
tered toward the Alps in utter confusion, w^ith the loss of their camp 
and their whole train of siege artillery. Lombardy was at once occu- 
pied by the victors, and Charles VII was proclaimed at Milan. The 
French were obliged to abandon the whole of Northern Italy, and a 
small force of allies under Marshal Daun conquered the kingdom of 
Naples, and proclaimed Charles III, the Austrian archduke, king of 
the two Sicilies. 

After the valuable services rendered by the Waldenses to Prince 
Eugene and Victor Amadeus in these conflicts, which ended with 
the peace of Utrecht, on the nth of April, A. D. 1713, these brave 
sons of the Alps no doubt expected to enjoy tranquillity at least dur- 
ing the remainder of the reign of the duke of Savoy. But these 
poor, oppressed subjects soon realized that it was impossible for 
any of the weak and bigoted house of Savoy to be merciful to Prot- 
estants. Victor Amadeus, two years before his abdication, w^hich 
occurred A. D. 1730, caused the governor of Pignerol to receive the 
oath of allegiance from the Waldenses, and promised them security 
in their possessions. And yet at the same time he diminished their 
territory by taking from them the Valley of Pragela, and issued an 
order that all who had not been born in the "Valleys" should aban- 
don them forever. Hence about three thousand Protestant French 
and Swiss who had been living among the Waldenses, some of them 
nearly forty years, were compelled to retire to Switzerland, and after- 
wards to Germany, where they organized a synod which embraced 
fifteen Churches. When they started on their journey the duke had 
given them an order on the commissariat for bread ; but a courier 
overtook the miserable fugitives on Mont Cenis, and under the pre- 
tense that something was wrong in the form of the order, obtained 
it, and carried it back to Turin, leaving them to make their way as 
best they could, through Savoy to Switzerland, without bread. This 
unjust decree of banishment was an evident infraction of the treaty 
made, A. D. 1704, between the king of Sardinia and Queen Anne 
of England, stipulating that the inhabitants of the Valley of Pragela, 



SPANISH PO WER IN SO UTHERN ITAL V. 445 

in particular, should be left in the free exercise of their religion. 
Victor Amadeus undoubtedly entertained kind feelings toward his 
Waldensian subjects. He had not forgotten how nobly they de- 
fended him when he was a refugee, and he remembered the silver 
goblet which, on his departure, he presented, as a token of his grati- 
tude to the family of Durand Canton, by whom he had been hospit- 
ably received. In his subsequent severe treatment of his faithful 
subjects he acted in accordance with the instructions of the court of 
Rome, which he feared to disobey. 

After abdicating in favor of his son, Charles Emmanuel III, the 
father became dissatisfied, and immediately tried to recover the power 
he had surrendered ; but he failed, and was imprisoned in the castle 
of Rivoli, where he died, A. D. 1732. The new ruler of Sardinia 
entered into an alliance with Louis XV, of France, and Philip V, of 
Spain, to drive the Austrians out of Italy. The Farnese family hav- 
ing become extinct, the duchies of Parma and Piacenza were given, 
A. D. 1 73 1, to the Spanish prince, Charles. Don Carlos, the son of 
Philip V, was to receive the two Sicilies, and the duchies named 
above and the duchy of Milan were to go to Sardinia. Charles Em- 
manuel III soon overran all of Milan but Mantua. Spain having 
been deprived of all her Italian possessions by the peace of Utrecht, 
Philip V resolved to recover some of the lost territory, and, there- 
fore, during the war of the Polish succession, he seized Naples and 
Sicily where the Austrian rule was detested, and conferred them upon 
Don Carlos, who became king as Charles III, and with whom began 
the reign of the Spanish Bourbons at Naples. The war of the allies 
against Austria commenced in October, A. D. 1733, and was closed 
by the treaty of Vienna, in November, A. D. 1738. The interests 
of the king of Sardinia were entirely sacrificed by his allies. Don 
Carlos was acknowledged king of the two Sicilies, and abandoned his 
claims upon the duchies. The Medici family had become extinct, 
A. D. 1737, and the grand duchy of Tuscany was bestowed upon 
Francis Stephen of Lorraine, the husband of Maria Theresa, the Aus- 
trian empress, and the daughter and heiress of the Emperor Charles 
VI ; and the duchy of Parma was given up to the emperor, who was 
allowed to retain Milan and Mantua. The king of Sardinia, cheated 
at every point, received Novara and Tortona, which were cut off from 
the duchy of Milan. 

The war of the' Austrian succession overturned all these arran^re- 
ments, and made Italy the scene of a terrible and destructive con- 
flict. ' The object of the war was to exclude Maria Theresa from the 



446 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

succession to the dominions of her father, the Emperor Charles VI. 
Both parties sought the aUiance of the king of Sardinia, whose action 
would control that of Lombardy. He at first embraced the cause 
of the allies, but after the war began abandoned them and supported 
Maria Theresa, whose rights were gallantly upheld by her Hun- 
garian subjects. The king was anxious to add the republic of Genoa 
to his possessions, as he desired a seaport; and the Genoese, in 
alarm, gave the French and Spanish forces a free passage through 
their territory into the dominions of Sardinia. These forces defeated 
the Sardinian army, A. D. 1745, and occupied the duchy of Milan. 
In the same year Francis of Lorraine, the grand duke of Tuscany, 
and the husband of Maria Theresa, was elected emperor, and the war 
was ended in Germany. Thus relieved at home, the empress queen 
sent an army to the assistance of Sardinia. The combined armies of 
Austria and Sardinia defeated the French and Spaniards in the severe 
battle of Piacenza, A. D. 1746, and the Austrians marched to Genoa, 
which surrendered at the first demand, and occupied the city. The 
tyranny of the invaders drove the Genoese into a revolt on the 5th 
of December, and the Austrians retreating from the city withdrew 
beyond the Apennines. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, signed in 
October, A. D. 1748, ended the war. 

By this treaty Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla were erected into a 
sepa^ate state, and given to Don Philip, the son of the king of Spain, 
and the brother of the king of the Two Sicilies. The republic of 
Genoa and the duchy of Modena and its dependencies were placed 
under the protection of France, to which power Genoa ceded the 
island of Corsica. During the life-time of the Emperor Francis I his 
grand duchy of Tuscany was almost a province of Austria. It was 
given, A. D. 1765, by the emperor to his third son, Peter Leopold, 
and became independent once more. Leopold reigned with despotic 
power, but he was a wise ruler and a benefactor to his people. He 
reformed the evils which had grown up around the administra- 
tion of justice, brought the clergy under the control of the state, 
diminished the number of monks, and abolished the *' Inquisition" 
in his dominions. He drained the unhealthy valley of the Chiana 
and converted it into a fertile region, and was engaged in draining 
the Maremma when, on the 20th of September, A. D. 1790, he was 
elected emperor of Austria. He appointed his second son, Ferdi- 
nand, his successor in Tuscany. 

From the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle to the period of the French 
invasion Italy was at peace. Charles Emmanuel III, of Sardinia, 



VARIOUS POPES. 447 

employed this interval in advancing- the prosperity of his kingdom. 
He ruled with despotic power, and kept the Church and the Jesuits 
down with a firm hand. He did this, not because these powers were 
enemies of the freedom of Italy, but because they were rivals to him 
in his own dominions. While he encouraged agriculture, and did 
something for the cause of education, his reign was destructive of the 
liberties of his people, who had little cause to regret his death, 
which occurred, A. D. 1 773. He was succeeded by his son, Victor 
Amadeus III, who formed a close alliance with France, and intro- 
duced into his kingdom the Bourbon plan of tyranny. 

While the prominent Roman Catholic nations — Austria, Spain, 
and France — were struggling in Italy for political supremacy, they had 
not time to promote the interests of the Papal See. Hence, during 
the eighteenth century the flames of persecution were measurably 
extinguished, and the spirit of toleration prevailed to a considerable 
extent. There were some persecutions, but, as a general rule, people 
were permitted to enjoy the liberty of thinking and acting for them- 
selves. Clement XI succeeded to the papal throne, A. D. 1700, and 
is chiefly remarkable for having published the famous bull which, 
from its initial letters, is entitled UnigeJiitus. It was issued in oppo- 
sition to the Jansenists, and defined and settled the articles of the 
Romish faith. This pontiff favored Louis XIV and the Jesuits in 
their persecutions of the Jansenists. Innocent XIII followed Clem- 
ent, but his reign was not marked by any distinguished event. Bene- 
dict XIII, who succeeded Innocent, was a man of eminent piety, 
and, besides, possessed the qualities of liberality, frugality, and indus- 
try. He once entertained the thought of uniting all Christendom, 
Catholic, Greek, and Protestant, in one communion, but the times 
were not favorable. For the purpose of reforming the errors of the. 
Church he assembled the famous council which met in the palace 
of the Lateran, A. D. 1725, the acts and decrees of which were 
made public, but proved utterly ineffectual to the ends which were 
proposed from them. Benedict XIII died, A. D. 1730, and was suc- 
ceeded by Clement XII, who reigned during the next decade. His 
pontificate was marked by the introduction of state lotteries and low 
finances. He was followed by Benedict XIV, a pious, scholarly, and 
judicious man, who exhibited wisdom and prudence in managing 
the difficult questions that arose during his administration. In his 
reign the Jesuits were threatened in Portugal, and the Jansenists 
obtained more power. 

Clement XIII, who ascended the pontifical throne on the 6th of 



448 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

July, y\. D. 1758', was a Venetian by birth and an ascetic in religion. 
He was a bigot to every petty ceremony, and his spirit and manner 
belonged to the twelfth instead of the eighteenth century. Indeed, 
the celebrated Ganganelli seems to have perfectly characterized his 
two predecessors in a few words when he said, * * Benedict had writ- 
ten and Clement had prayed much." The latter exhibited the haugh- 
tiness of the Venetian character in the dispute in which he involved 
himself on account of the Jesuits with all the branches of the house 
of Bourbon, who threatened to withdraw their dominions from the 
spiritual jurisdiction of Rome. He endeavored to restore the papacy 
to its former greatness, but sank it lower than he found it, leaving 
the papal dignity in a critical situation, from which all the prudence 
and moderation of his successor could scarcely emancipate it. 

Laurenzo Ganganelli, the son of a physician at St. Archangelo, 
and the only regular in the Sacred College at the time of his election 
(being of the order of Minor Conventuals), was chosen on the 19th 
of May, A. D. 1769, and assumed the title of Clement XIV. After 
completing his studies, he had obtained the regency of his college, 
and was afterward promoted to the office of consulter to the " Holy 
Office." This employment, which included that of pope's minister in 
all inquisitorial concerns, made him prominent. He was studious, 
learned, of pure morals, and of genuine piety. His elevation to the 
papal throne was, no doubt, the result of a concentrated effort made 
by the ** forcing courts," as the courts of Spain, Portugal, and Na- 
ples were termed from their always taking an active part in the elec- 
tion of a pope. The indecision of Clement XIII concerning the 
suppression of the Jesuits had been very offensive to them, and they 
resolved to secure the election of an ecclesiastic who would execute 
their will. He became very popular by diminishing several taxes, 
which were oppressive to the poor, and manifested his liberality and 
taste by enriching the Clementine museum. He was modest and 
unaffected, and practiced extreme temperance. Finding his cham- 
ber in the Vatican hung with crimson damask, he ordered it to be 
removed, and observed that bare walls were sufficient for a plain 
monk. No other occupant of the papal chair ever exhibited so 
much humilit};, as he performed every office about his person as long 
as he was able rather than incommode his attendants. He adopted 
frugal regulations in his domestic economy, and distributed the sav- 
ings among the necessitous poor, in the relieving of Avhom he 
indulged himself as a favorite amusement. 

Clement endeavored with honest but mistaken zeal to reform the 



. THE JESUITS SUPPRESSED. 449 

Jesuitical order, but after several years of fruitless effort he aban- 
doned the undertaking. On the 21st of July, A. D. 1773, he issued 
the famous bull, '' Dominiis ac Redemptor Noster,'* by which he 
dissolved and forever annihilated the order as a corporate body at a 
moment when it counted according to Duller's "History of the 
Jesuits," twenty-two thousand members. The bull justified itself by 
a long and formidable list of charges against the society. Had this 
accusation proceeded from a Protestant pen it might have been regarded 
as not free from exaggerations, but coming from the papal chair it 
must be accepted as sober truth. It charged the Jesuits with raising 
various insurrections and rebellions, with plotting against bishops, 
undermining the regular monastic orders, and invading pious founda- 
tions and corporations of every kind, not only in Europe, but also in 
America and Asia, to the danger of souls and the astonishment of 
all nations. It accused them of engaging in trade, and that instead 
of seeking to convert the heathen they had shown themselves intent 
only on gathering gold and silver and precious jewels. The bull also 
declares that the Jesuits had interpolated pagan rites and manners 
with Christian beliefs and worship, set aside the ordinances of the 
Church, and substituted opinions which the apostolic chair had pro- 
nounced y}/;/^^;;/^;//<2//^ erroneous and evidently subversive of good morals. 
Clement further stated that tumults, disturbances, and violent com- 
motions had followed them in all countries ; that they had broken 
the peace of the Church, and so incurably that the pontificates 
of his predecessors, Urban VIII, Clements IX, X, XI, and XII, 
Alexanders VII and VIII, Innocents X, XI, XII, and XIII, and 
Benedict XIV, had been passed in abortive efforts to re-establish the 
harmony and discord which they had destroyed. 

After this severe arraignment of the Jesuitical order, the bull 
affirmed that the peace of the Church would never be restored while 
the institution existed, and the necessity of the papal decree was 
therefore apparent. It dispossessed the Jesuits "of every office, 
service, and administration;" took away from them "their houses, 
schools, hospitals, estates;" withdrew all "their statutes, usages, de- 
crees, customs, and ordinances ;" and pronounced all the power of 
the General Provincial Visitors, and every other head of the same 
order, whether spiritual or secular, "to be forever annulled and sup- 
pressed." "The present ordinance," said the bull, in conclusion, 
"shall remain in full force and operation from henceforth and forever." 

When Clement XIV laid down his pen, after signing his name to 
the bull, he said to his friends around him that he had signed his 



45o ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

death-warrant — ''Sotto scriviamo la nostra morte." He was at that 
time in robust health, and his vigorous constitution and temperate 
habits promised a long life. But now dark rumors began to be 
whispered in Italy that the pontiff would die soon. In April of the 
following year he began to decHne without any apparent cause, his 
illness increased, no medicine was of any avail, and, after lingering 
in torture for months, he died on the 22d of September, A. D. 1774. 
** Several days before his death," says Caraccioli, ''his bones were 
exfoliated, and withered like a tree, which, attacked at its roots, 
withers away and throws off his bark. The scientific men who were 
called in to embalm the body found the features livid, the lips black, 
the abdomen inflated, the limbs emaciated and covered with violet 
spots. The size of the heart was diminished and all his muscles 
were shrunk up, and his spine was decomposed. They filled the 
body with perfumed and aromatic substances, but nothing could dis- 
pel the mephitic effluvia." It was generally believed that Clement 
had been made to drink the **Aqua Tofana, " a spring in Perugia 
more famous than healthful ; but, no matter how administered, poison 
served the purpose of the Jesuits, whose unforgiving pride and deadly 
vengeance demanded the payment of this fearful penalty. 

Clement's successor was Pius VI, who ascended the papal throne 
on the 15th of February, A. D. 1775. He was a man of fine ap- 
pearance, of elegant manner, and of a respectable private character. 
Like Leo X, he was pleasant and cheerful, and fond of magnificence, 
art, and splendor. He was strongly attached to the Romish faith, 
delighted to perform the various offices and ceremonies of religion, 
and labored diligently to promote the interests of the papal Church. 
Sad events and humiliation awaited him, and he was destined to be- 
hold the decline of that system which had ruled the most powerful 
nations. 

During the eighteenth century, art, science, and literature made 
some advancement in Italy. When, near the beginning of the cent- 
ury, the war of the Spanish succession raged in the Peninsula, under 
the scepter of the young Don Carlos, and afterwards of Ferdi- 
nand III, literature and the sciences were cultivated with renewed 
vigor. Naples produced Giannone, distinguished in the department 
of history, Capasso in literature, Cirillo in medicine, Mazocchi in 
archaeology, Genovesi in political economy, one Gagliani in archi- 
tecture, and another in domestic economy and philology. Filangieri 
rivaled Montesquieu in the philosophy of legislation ; Pagano wrote 
on the criminal law; Poli distinguished himself in the positive sci- 



DISTINGUISHED AUTHORS. 



451 



ences ; Maffei and Calsabigi devoted themselves to poetry. The 
university of Bologna was now in its splendor, its academy of sci- 
ences taking the name of "The Institute." Marsigli, Stratico, 
Cesarotti, Foscarini, the brothers Gozzi, Morelli, Maffei, Pompei, 
Lorenzi, Mazzuchelli, and Serassi made the city of Venice illustrious; 
but political jealousy prevented the culture of the economical and 
legislative sciences there, which under Beccaria and others were mak- 
ing great progress in other parts of Italy. 

In Tuscany the famous French encyclopaedia was republished. 
In the cities of Lombardy flourished Scopoli, Fontana, Frank, Tissot, 
Spallanzani, Bertola, Villa, Natali, Volta, Scarpa, Tamburini, Parini, 
Beccaria, Verri, Landriani, Agnesi, Carli, and others, devoted to 
literature, art, science, and the development of political and ethical 
principles. Bod on i raised the art of typography to an admirable 
elegance. Prominent among the patrons of literature was Victor 
Amadeus II of Savoy. The Italian drama had as yet attained to 
excellence only in the opera, and lacked superior tragedies and com- 
edies. The " Merope " of Maffei was the best tragedy produced in 
the early part of the century. A greater influence, however, was 
exerted upon his age and upon literature by Alfieri. This celebrated 
poet was born in Piedmont, A. D. 1749. Of patrician birth, after 
eight years of ''ineducation," as 
he styles it, with an absolutely 
"anti-geometric" head, that could 
not comprehend the fourth prop- 
osition in Euclid at the age of 
twenty-seven, without ever having 
read a tragedy, Avithout having 
acquired even his own native lan- 
guage, he resolves to be a tragic 
poet. He becomes a child again, 
plunging, "Curtius-Hke," into the 
abysses of grammar ; studies Ital- 
ian and Latin; doffs the cothur- 
nus; and then goes to Florence 
to accustom himself "to speak, 
hear, think, and dream in beautiful Tuscan." There he met the 
countess of Albany, who became henceforth his inspiration ; and 
then, having watched over him during his last illness, in 1803 erected 
his mausoleum. Alfieri was truly the head of an important school 
of tragedy. He was hostile alike to the operatic 

30 




VITTORIO ALFIERI. 



ightness of the 



45 2 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Italian drama and to the formal and complicated intrigues of the 
French, but went to an opposite extreme, demanding in tragedy both 
the utmost intensity of passion and the utmost simplicity of treat- 
ment. He was the poet of energetic action and profound thought and 
feeling, as Metastasio was of love. Indeed, Alfieri bears the same 
relation to Italian tragedy that Tasso does to the Italian epic, or 
Goldoni to Italian comedy. He was at the same time its founder 
and its most brilliant illustrator. An ardent lover of liberty and a 
pronounced republican, he wrote an ode on "Free America," and 
dedicated his "Brutus" to Washington. The writer, while visiting 
the church of Santa Croce at Florence, beheld Alfleri's monument, 
wrought by Canova, and was not surprised at what may appear to 
be an extravagant description of it by one who called it "the tomb 
of Sophocles, sculptured by Phidias." Though not a Shakespeare, 
the tragic poet of Florence deserves a high rank in Italian literature, 
and Italy is not inappropriately represented by the artist as a weep- 
ing mourner at his tomb. 

A reformation in the Italian comedy was effected by Goldoni, the 
onl}' genuine comic poet that Italy can boast. The most illustrious 
historians were Muratori, Maffei, Denina, Mazzucchelli, Tiraboschi, 
and Lanzi. The writings of Muratori and Tiraboschi still maintain 
their reputation, both for erudition and criticism. In archaeology, 
the names of Fabretti, Gori, Mazzocchi, Martorelli, Passeri, and 
Carli were distinguished. Vico founded the new science of the phi- 
losophy of history, and Parini excelled in satirical poetry. 



Chapter XXXL 

THE FRENCH CAMPAIGN IN ITALY. 

THE outbreak of the French Revolution did not immediatel}' 
affect Italy, although it seemed to threaten the despotisms 
of that country with ruin. The French republic was established 
x\. D. 1792, and Savoy and Nice were seized and made parts of the 
French territory. Under a new government France made peace, 
A. D. 1795, with all the states of Europe that had been opposing 
her, save England, Austria, and Sardinia. The Archduke Charles 
of Austria having repulsed the armies of the republic, the French 
directory resolved to attack that power through Italy, which was 



BONAPARTE'S VICTORIES. 453 

destined to become the principal theater of the war, and three armies 
were accordingly organized for the campaign of 1796. Two of these 
were designed for service in Germany, under Generals Moreau and 
Jourdan; the third was to operate in Italy under General Bonaparte, 
who had already given proof of his great genius as a soldier. He 
was a native of the island of Corsica, and of Italian descent, and 
since his victory over the sections he had been promoted to the 
command of the army of the interior. On the 23d of February, 
A. D. 1796, when only twenty-seven years of age, he was appointed 
to the command of the army of Italy, and reached the headquarters 
at Nice on the 27th of March. 

The ajmy of Italy numbered about thirty-five thousand men, and 
was in a wretched state of discipline, and in want of clothing and 
provisions. Opposed to it was an army of sixty thousand splendid 
Austrian and Piedmontese troops. Bonaparte soon infused into his 
own wretched force his own enthusiastic energy, and electrified his 
men with the promise of victor}^ and wealth in Italy. He then be- 
gan a forward movement upon Genoa, his plan being to interpose 
his army between the imperialists and Piedmontese, and prevent their 
union. Only a few weeks before his troops were a band of malcon- 
tents, but now they followed him \\\\\\ enthusiasm. Napoleon's plan 
was completely successful. The Austrians fell back toward Milan, 
and the Piedmontese toward Turin. A detachment of the Austrians 
was defeated at Montenotte; and Bonaparte, pursuing the Piedmon- 
tese army, captured the fortified town of Cherasco, and entirely cut 
off the Sardinians from the imperialists. He then compelled the 
king of Sardinia to accept a humiliating armistice, and forced him to 
cede Savoy and Nice to France, to expel all French emigrants, even 
his own daughters, who were the wives of the brothers of Louis XVI, 
from his dominions, and to place Alexandria, Tortona, and the other 
chief fortresses of his kingdom in the hands of the French as suret}' 
for his neutrality until the conclusion of a general peace. 

After concluding this armistice Bonaparte marched at once against 
the Austrians, and defeated them in the desperate battle of Lodi, on 
the loth of May, driving them back to the Mincio. Milan was un- 
covered by this retreat, and was occupied by the French, amid the 
rejoicings of the people, on the 15th of May. The French directory 
were astonished at these rapid successes, and alarmed at the boldness 
of the young general in venturing to treat independently with the 
Piedmontese king. Desiring to restrain him, they proposed to divide 
the command in Italy between him and General Kellerman ; but 



454 ^^^^ ^ STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Bonaparte would not consent to the arrangement, and offered his 
resignation to the directory. His brilHant successes in Italy had 
rendered him so popular at home that the directory did not dare to 
accept his resignation, and left him without interference. From his 
headquarters at Milan Bonaparte dictated peace to the minor princes 
of Italy, and compelled them to purchase it upon his own condi- 
tions. Money, materials of war, and works of art were demanded 
from them, and sent to Paris to supply the needs of the republic and 
adorn the French capital. 

After allowing his army twelve days of rest at Milan Bonaparte 
advanced to Mantua, and laid siege to that strong fortress. It was 
the chief Austrian stronghold in Italy, and the key to all further 
operations in that country. An Austrian army was dispatched to its 
relief under Marshal Wurmser, one of the most trusted generals of 
the empire. While it was on the march, Bonaparte left a strong 
detachment to continue the blockade of Mantua, and by a rapid 
movement overran the States of the Church with the rest of his army, 
and dictated an armistice with the Papal See. Pope Pius VI was 
compelled to pay to France the sum of twenty-one millions of francs, 
together with one hundred valuable pictures and other works of art, 
and to allow Bologna, Ferrara, and Ancona to be garrisoned by the 
French. The grand duke of Tuscany was compelled to receive a 
French garrison at Leghorn, in order to prevent the English from 
trading with that port. Marshal Wurmser, at the head of seventy 
thousand men, twice entered Italy from the Tyrol to relieve Mantua. 
He was no match for his youthful opponent, and was defeated at 
Brescia, Castiglione, Roveredo, and Bassano. Finding that he was 
unable to hold the field, Wurmser, on the 19th of September, retired 
with the remainder of his army within the walls of Mantua, which 
fortress was well-provisioned and capable of enduring a long siege. 

The defeat of Moreau and Jourdan in Germany,, and their retreat 
across the Rhine into France, left the army in Italy to bear the full 
\\'eight of the Austrian power, and a third Austrian army, sixty 
thousand strong, was assembled under Marshal Alvinzi for the pur- 
pose of driving Bonaparte out of Italy. The French were far inferior 
in strength to the Austrians, and Alvinzi believed he would have an 
easy victory. In the first part of the campaign the Austrians were 
successful, and the French army became disheartened, but Bonaparte, 
by a series of bold and rapid movements, soon changed the condi- 
tions of affairs. On the 14th of November he attacked Alvinzi at 
Areola, and in a three days' battle drove him back upon Montebello, 



THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC OVERTHROWN. 455 

and re-entered Verona in triumph. Alvinzi was re-enforced, and early 
in January, A. D. 1797, appeared on the Adige with an army of 
sixty thousand men. On the 14th of January he was utterly routed 
at Rivoli. The French were greatly inferior in force to the Austrians, 
and the victory was therefore due to the superior genius of Bona- 
parte. It was followed by the surrender of Mantua by Wurmser on 
the 2d of February, by which the French received twenty thousand 
prisoners of war. 

Bonaparte now invaded the papal territories and rapidly overran 
them. He was ordered by the French directory to destroy the papal 
government, but on his own responsibility disregarded these instruc- 
tions, and concluded with the helpless pontiff the treaty of Tolentino 
on the 19th of February, by which Pius VI ceded to France the 
legations of Bologna, Ferrara, and the Romagna and Avignon and 
its territory in France, and paid a second contribution of fifteen 
millions of francs and a number of the choicest art treasures of Rome. 
Thus far the brilliant success of Bonaparte had won for France a 
third of the papal states and Savoy and Nice ; had detached the king 
of Sardinia, and the states of northern and central Italy from the 
coalition against France, and had laid Genoa and Venice under heavy 
contributions. The expenses of the campaign had not only been 
defrayed by the conquered territory, but Bonaparte had been able to 
remit thirty millions of francs to the directory. The officers and 
men of the conquering army had grown rich from the spoils of war. 
Piedmont and Lombardy had been conquered, and four Austrian 
armies had been defeated or captured. It was the most brilliant 
campaign that had been conducted by the French since the com- 
mencement of the war. The Italians believed at first that the French 
had come to deliver them from their old tyrants, and they every- 
where rose against their rulers and drove out the monks and priests. 
They soon found, however, that the French were not so disinterested, 
and that they intended to rule the Peninsula. A growing enmity to 
the French was now developed in all parts of Italy, and hostilities 
soon broke out between the Italians and the French. At Verona 
the garrison left by Napoleon was massacred by the people, and 
violent outbreaks occurred at Bergamo and other places. Bonaparte 
at once marched into the Venetian territory, having first declared 
war against the republic. The city of Venice was occupied by a 
French division; the Venetian republic was overthrown; the ''Council 
of Ten" abolished, and a democratic government organized. The 
French levied a fine of six millions of francs upon the republic, occu- 



456 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

pied its territory with garrisons, and carried off to Paris a large 
number of works of art, manuscripts, etc. The Venetians surren- 
dered the government without a struggle, and thus perished the 
ancient commonwealth of Venice. But while deprived of the priv- 
ileges of a republic, the people were delivered from many abuses 
that had afflicted them. 

On the 17th of October, A. D. 1797, the treaty of Campo Formio 
was concluded between France and Austria. By its terms Lom- 
bardy, Parma, and Modena, the papal states of Bologna, Ferrara, 
and the Romagna and the Venetian territory, as far as the Adige, 
were organized into an independent state called the "Cisalpine Re- 
public." Venice and all her dependencies in the Adriatic were given 
to Austria, who occupied them with her troops in the early part of 
the year 1798. Napoleon also created the "Ligurian Republic," 
with Genoa for its capital; the **Cispadane Republic," with its cap- 
ital at Bologna; and the ''Tiberine Republic,'-' whose capital was 
Rome. Naples was captured by the French A. D. 1798, and made 
the capital of the " Parthenopaean Republic." A second coalition 
had been formed against France by Russia, Turkey, Great Britain, 
Austria, and the Two Sicilies. The king of the Two Sicilies, before 
the treaties were signed between these powers, advanced upon Rome 
with an army of forty thousand men; but the French repulsed this 
force, pursued King Ferdinand IV into the Neapolitan territories and 
compelled him to take refuge in Sicily. 

As Napoleon had declined to obey the instructions of the French 
directory respecting the papal government. General Berthier was sent 
on a special mission to Rome. He found the people thoroughly dis- 
contented, and they received him as a deliverer. After proclaiming 
the restoration of the republic, he made Pope Pius VI a prisoner and 
stripped him of all his property. The unfortunate pontiff was con- 
veyed to the convent of Sienna, and subsequently removed to France, 
where, after being detained in captivity, he died in the eighty-second 
year of his age. In the Summer of 1799 the French army pillaged 
Rome, and the efforts of the people to protect their property were 
unavailing. Berthier, who had promised to respect the private pos- 
sessions of the citizens, was disgusted with the course of the direc- 
tory and the conduct of his own army, and demanded to be recalled. 

In the mean time France, having lost her hold upon Italy, was 
alarmed at the situation. A powerful Russian army under the famous 
Marshal Suwarof had entered the Peninsula and formed a junction 
with the Austrians under General Kray. This force successively 



THE FRENCH DEFEA T IN ITAL V. 45 7 

defeated the French army under General Sherer at Verona and 
Magnano. Sherer was succeeded by Moreau, who was defeated by 
Suwarof at Cassano. The ahies then occupied Milan, and Moreau 
would have been crushed had not the Austian government ordered 
Suwarof to lay siege to Mantua, Peschiera, and other places that 
were considered essential to the preservation of the territory already 
won. Profiting by this delay, Moreau took position at Coni, where* 
he could communicate with Genoa and with France. Re-enforcements 
were hastening to him, but desiring to distinguish himself by some 
decisive act before their arrival, Moreau left his position and attacked 
Suwarof near the Trebia and was utterly routed. This defeat was fol- 
lowed by the loss of Piedmont. The allies occupied Turin, Pignerol, 
Susa, and other important points, and the Cossacks of Suwarof's 
army passed the Alps and invaded Dauphine. Joubert was sent 
to supersede Moreau, but was defeated and slain in the bloody and 
decisive battle of Novi on the 15th of August, 1799. A combined 
force of Russians, Turks, and Neapolitans advanced upon Rome, 
which was surrendered by the French on the 27th of September. 
Later in the same year the city of Naples was taken by the army of 
Ferdinand IV and the English fleet under Lord Nelson. After a 
short existence the " Parthenopaean Republic" was overthrown, and 
the government of Ferdinand IV re-established by Cardinal Ruffo, 
the leading patriots having surrendered the castle on condition that 
they should be allowed to go to France. The capitulation was broken 
by Lord Nelson, and the liberals who had already embarked on ship- 
board, and who numbered many of the best and most learned men 
in Naples, were all executed. By these reverses all of central and 
southern Italy were lost to the French, who had already been driven 
from northern Italy. 



f^krt IV. 

PAPAL DARKNESS DISAPPEARING. 



CENTURY XIX 



FIRST DECADE, 1800-1810. 



Chapter I. 

ITALY UNDER FRENCH RULE. 

THE dawn of the nineteenth century found Italy still the battle- 
field of hostile nations. Indeed, all Europe was convulsed by 
the French Revolution, and the thrones of monarchy seemed to be 
rocking. The idea of liberty, practically illustrated in America, had 
deeply stirred the people of France, and, though they allowed free- 
dom to wander unrestrained into the most extravagant and fearful 
license, yet the principle itself had not ceased to agitate European 
society. The contest in Italy had been really between republican 
France and despotic powers, and the Italians themselves, while in 
the midst of constant wars and subject to foreign invaders, were not 
altogether without compensations. On the whole, the period of 
French rule in the Peninsula was one of order and of observance of 
law, and something was done for the material and intellectual devel- 
opment of the country. But, more than all, the hope of national 
unity then arose in the Italian mind. Natives of different parts of 
the Peninsula were thrown together in the armies of Napoleon, and 
from this companionship derived a feeling of brotherhood which 
tyranny could not crush. Even the papacy proved powerless to 
resist the popular tide, and Pius VII, who began to reign on the 
14th of March, 1800, was destined to greater humiliation than his 
predecessor. 

Austria still continuing hostile. Napoleon resolved to take the 
field against her. In April, 1800, the Austrian army in Italy under 
Baron Melas attacked the French under Generals Sou It and Massena, 
458 



THE NEGOTIA TIONS. 459 

and drove them back to Genoa, while another French division under 
General Suchet was forced to retreat upon Borghette. Melas sent a 
large body of troops to besiege Genoa, while, with the remainder of 
his army, he followed Suchet, intending to force him back and to 
invade France by way of Provence. Napoleon now executed a brill- 
iant and daring plan to expel the Austrians from Italy. He proposed 
to cross the Alps of Switzerland with his army and plant it in Italy 
in the rear of the Austrians. He began his march from Geneva with 
a force of thirty-five thousand men. The French engineers had 
examined the pass of the Great St. Bernard, and had reported that 
it was barely possible to cross the mountain. Napoleon at once gave 
orders to make the attempt. The cannon were dismounted, placed 
in the hollow trunks of trees, and were dragged over the frozen 
paths by the troops. By the most indefatigable exertions the mount- 
ain was passed, and on the i6th of May, 1800, the advanced guard 
of the French army, under Lannes, entered Piedmont. Another 
division, under General Moncey, crossed Mont St. Gothard, and a 
third, under General Thuneau, passed over Mont Cenis. These 
divisions were reunited in Lombardy, and on the 2d of June Napo- 
leon occupied Milan without opposition. The passage of the Alps 
by the French army has always been regarded as one of the most 
remarkable feats in military history. 

In the mean time Massena, who had held Genoa for sixty days, and 
had defeated the efforts of the enemy to capture it, was reduced to 
the necessity of capitulating, and on the 5th of June evacuated the 
place with the remainder of his force. The exultation of the Aus- 
trians was suddenly checked by the startling news of the passage of 
the Alps by the French, and their presence in Milan. Napoleon 
was between the Austrians and their base of operations, and they 
must fight to recover their communications with their own country. 
Melas hastily fell back to Alessandria, and concentrated his forces 
there. Napoleon took position in the great plain of Marengo, where, 
on the 14th of June, the decisive battle of the campaign was fought. 
The Austrians were successful in the morning; but the arrival of 
Desaix with a fresh corps, in the afternoon, enabled Napoleon to 
renew the battle, and the Austrians were defeated and driven in con- 
fusion across the Bormida. Each army lost about seven thousand 
men killed. The heroic Desaix was mortally wounded. Their defeat 
left the Austrians in such a critical condition that Melas was com- 
pelled to enter into negotiations with the first consul. An agreement 
was signed by which the Austrian army withdrew beyond the Min- 



46o ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

cio, and twelve fortresses, including Milan, Turin, Genoa, Piacenza, 
and Alessandria, passed into the hands of the French. By his single 
victory Napoleon gained all the territory he had won in his earlier 
campaigns, and which had been lost by his absence from Italy. 
Austria was deprived of all that she had obtained in the northern part 
of the Peninsula. A suspension of hostilities was agreed upon until 
the Austrian commander could receive definite instructions from 
Vienna as to a treaty of peace; and Napoleon returned to Paris, 
where he was received with an ovation. 

On the 9th of February, 1801, the peace of Luneville, which 
confirmed the treaty of Campo Formio, was signed, by which the 
duke of Parma obtained Tuscany under the designation of the Etru- 
rian Kingdom ; Lombardy and Parma fell to France, and Venice to 
Austria. In 1802 the Cisalpine was changed into tlie Italian Repub- 
lic, its constitution revised, and Napoleon made president. Piedmont 
was formally annexed to the French dominions in September of the 
same year, and about the same time the duchies of Parma, Piacenza, 
and Guastalla were seized and placed under a French administration. 
In 1805, wlien the military regime was completed in France, and 
Bonaparte had become its emperor, the same kind of monarchy was 
forced upon Italy, and he was crowned king of the latter country in 
the cathedral of Milan, on the 26th of Ma}', the ancient iron crown of 
Lombardy being used on that occasion. The emperor appointed his 
stepson, Eugene de Beauharnai^, his representative in Italy, with the 
title of viceroy. On the 30th of June the Genoese territory was 
organized as three French departments, and formally incorporated 
with France. Guastalla was annexed to the new Italian kingdom, 
and Piambino and Lucca were given in fief to Napoleon's sister, 
EUsa, who had married Paschal Bacciochi. By the peace of Pres- 
burg, signed on the 26th of December, 1805, Venice, Istria, and 
Dalmatia were added to the Italian kingdom, the area of which then 
comprised thirty-five thousand and four hundred square miles, with a 
population of five million six hundred and fifty-seven thousand. 
Naples had entered into a treaty of neutrality with France; but 
under the influence of Queen Caroline, a sister of the unfortunate 
Marie Antoinette, it had taken sides with the allies. Napoleon at 
once proclaimed that * ' the house of Bourbon had ceased to reign 
in Naples," and in February, 1806, sent a powerful army under 
Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Massena into the Neapolitan territory. 
The royal family fled to Sicily ; Naples was occupied by the French, 
and the emperor conferred the Neapolitan crown upon his eldest 



CAMILLO CAVOUR, 46 1 

brother, Joseph Bonaparte. The latter was annoyed by Ferdinand, 
who made repeated efforts to regain his throne ; but the insurrection 
was suppressed by the French troops. 

In 1808 Joseph Bonaparte exchanged his position as king of the 
two Sicihes for the throne of Spain, and was succeeded by his 
brother-in-law, General Murat, one of the most brilliant marshals of 
the empire. In the same year the Etrurian kingdom and the Papal 
States were added to France ; but Istria and Dalmatia were sepa- 
rated from Italy, and united to the new Illyrian kingdom, while a 
portion of the Tyrol was assigned to Italy. The last effort of Aus- 
tria to crush the French in the Italian Peninsula having been frus- 
trated in a series of battles extending from the 19th to the 23d of 
April, 1809, the supremacy of Napoleon remained undisturbed until 
his power was broken by the Russian campaign, and the successful 
rising of Germany. 



SECOND DECADE, 1810-1820. 



Chapter II. 

BIRTH OF CAVOUK— ITALY OPPRESSED— GAl^I BALDL 

THE year 18 10 will ever be regarded by the true Italian pa- 
triot as one of the most memorable in the history of his coun- 
try. No startling political or military event occurred, and Napoleon 
continued to be undisputed ruler of the whole Peninsula. But the 
birth of one who was destined to be the deliverer of Italy rendered 
that year almost sacred. If the 22d of February, 1732, is a day to 
be revered by Americans, the ist of August, 18 10, deserves like 
commemoration by the Italians. The parents of Camillo Behsi di 
Cavour resided at Turin, where this, their second son, was born. 
His father, the Marquis Michael Benso di Cavour, belonged to one 
of the most ancient and noble families of Piedmont, and was for 
many years, during the reign of Carlo Alberto, mayor of the city in 
which he lived. The infant son and future statesman was held at 
the baptismal font by the Princess Pauline Borghese, sister of Napo- 
leon I, and the Abbe Frezet, author of a history of the house of 
Savoy, was his first instructor. 

The social center at Turin was united, though varied, and in this 



462 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

wholesome and strengthening atmosphere Camillo Cavour was reared. 
He was a robust child, sparkling with vivacity, enjoying his own 
life and imparting happiness to all around him. In 1815, when the 
tragic warfare which swept away the French empire had made Pied- 
mont independent, he was only five years of age. In that same year, 
on the 1 8th of June, the star of Napoleon set on the bloody field 
of Waterloo to rise no more, while that of Cavour, which was des- 
tined to guide Italy through its dark night to the haven of national 
unity and safety was just rising above the horizon. Indeed, the reign 
of Napoleon was virtually ended in the Peninsula in 1 8 14. On the 
nth of January, Murat, king of Naples, abandoned Napoleon, uni- 
ted his forces with those of Austria, and assisted in expelling the 
French army from Italy, which was accomplished on the 23d of 
April, 1 8 14. While Cavour, in the innocence of childhood, spent 
happy hours under the parental roof, his native land was about to 
pass under the despotic rule of Austria. 

After the abdication of the French emperor, Eugene Beauharnais, 
who had been viceroy of Milan, withdrew, and the states of Italy 
returned to the government of their former rulers, with the exception 
of Venice, which remained subject to Austria. On the return of 
Bonaparte from Elba, in 181 5, Murat took up arms, advanced north- 
ward and entered Bologna. Driven thence, he was soon afterward 
defeated near Tolentino, and his power completely destroyed. The 
Austrian general, Nugent, entered the capital, and Murat fled to 
France, while his wife and family found refuge in Austria. Ferdi- 
nand returned from Sicily to Naples, and maintained with few changes 
the Code Napoleon and other institutions introduced by the French. 
Murat made a feeble attempt to recover his kingdom, and having col- 
lected a small body of troops in Corsica, landed at Pezzo, in Calabria, 
where he was taken prisoner, tried by a military tribunal, and shot. 

To restore the political system of Europe, which had been so 
completely subverted, a General Congress met at Vienna, on the ist 
of November, 18 14. Six of the crowned heads of Europe were 
present, and also many princes, embassadors, and ministers. Tnis 
congress decreed a new territorial arrangement of Italy. The king 
of Sardinia received back all his dominions according to the bounda- 
ries existing in 1792, with some few changes in the frontier. To 
these were added Genoa and the territory belonging to it when a 
republic. The emperor of Austria received the newly elected king- 
dom of Venetian Lombardy, in which were included the districts of 
the Valteline, Bormio, and Chiavenna, with parts of the Grisons. 



A USTRIA R ULES ITAL Y. 463 

The valley of the Po was fixed upon as the boundary between the 
popedom and Parma. The house of Hapsburg. again received the 
sovereignty which it once exercised over Modena, Reggio, Miran- 
dola, Massa, and Carrara. Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla fell to the 
Empress Maria Louisa, wife of Napoleon. The first-named was 
given to her as a sovereignty for her life, after which it was to fall 
to the duchess of Lucca and her heirs, who were to give up a terri- 
tory in Bohemia to the duke of Reichstadt, the son of Napoleon and 
Maria Louisa. Prince Ferdinand received Tuscany and the district 
of Piombina, with the title of Grand Duke. He also obtained the 
sovereignty of the isle of Elba, on condition of reserving in that 
island the rights of Prince Buoncompagni Ludovisi. To the Infanta 
Maria Louisa, the Bourbon princess, was assigned Lucca, as a sover- 
eign dukedom, with a yearly pension of five hundred thousand francs 
till the decease of the Empress Maria Louisa. The pope was fully 
reinstated in all his dominions, with the exception of a few small 
portions on the left bank of the Po; but Austria reserved the right 
of recruiting in Ferrara and Comacchio. Ferdinand of Naples was 
again acknowledged as king of both Sicilies. Malta, Gozzo, and 
Comino remained in the hands of England, and the republic of San 
Marino and the prince of Monaco were guaranteed in the enjoyment 
of their, ancient rights. 

Thus, at the end of tv/enty years of war, Italy was deprived of 
the ancient hberties of some of its provinces, and saw. the Aus- 
trian rule more firmly established and extended in others. But 
this was not the worst feature. Her rulers, who before the French 
Revolution had commenced civil and religious reforms, returned with 
an obstinate aversion to any change. All that the country had 
gained was the abolition of the remnants of feudal rights and privi- 
leges, the division of feudal domains, and the extensive lands wrested 
from the suppressed monasteries, and the introduction of the Code 
Napoleon into most of its states. The restoration of the old govern- 
ments, however, Avas not followed by the return of tranquillity, still 
less of contentment, among the Italians. 

Vienna could not allay the spirit of national independence which 
was astir among the people. It was first awakened by a few poets 
of the last twenty years of the eighteenth century and was fostered 
by the allied powers themselves, whose interests were promoted by 
the overthrow of the French rule in Italy. The Archduke John of 
Austria in 1809, Lord William Bentinck in 18 14 at Genoa, and General 
Nugent in 18 15, had all promised independence to the Italians, and 



464 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

excited them to arise in the name of their country's freedom and 
defend their own rights and their own hberties. When Murat 
marched into Upper Italy, in 1815, he appealed to the spirit of na- 
tional independence, and even proclaimed that the freedom of Italy was 
the object of his expedition. It became then the favorite theme 
of the national literature, and was strengthened by the arrangements 
of the Congress of Vienna. By the extension of the Austrian power 
in the peninsula all the Italian sovereigns became virtually so many 
liege lords of the empire. The cabinet at Vienna dictated their 
policy, and not one of them dared to think or act for himself. Thus 
Ferdinand, Avhen leaving Sicily in May, 18 15, addressed a proclama- 
tion to the Neapolitans, in which he promised to be the depositary 
of such laws as should be decreed by a constitution ; but, in June 
of the same year, by a secret treaty, signed at Vienna, he engaged 
himself not to introduce into his states any principles of government 
irreconcilable with those adopted b}^ Austria in her Italian provinces; 
and accordingly, in 18 16, he '^\\\.^de facto ^-^w end to the Sicilian con- 
stitution of 1812. An intense feeling of hostilit}^ to Austria now 
prevailed, and a deep conviction that there could not be an\^ real im- 
provement in the state of the Peninsula until national independence 
had been obtained, had taken possession of the Italian mind. 

The Italian sovereigns, on returning to their respective states, 
neither restored the ancient order of things nor adapted their new 
policy to the fresh wants and altered conditions of society. In com- 
pliance with the dictates of the Holy Alliance, they undid not only 
what had been done under French rule, but also their own previous 
reforms. By an agreement with the pope, the Jesuits were restored 
ever}'-where ; many of the suppressed monasteries were re-established, 
and the mortmain laws of the eighteenth century were repealed. 
The taxes upon land were increased, and exports and imports 
checked by means of high duties. The system of passports w^as 
made much more stringent, and permission to leave one's native 
town, even for a few days, often denied. Elementary education was 
narrowed in its limits, and thrown entirely into the hands of the 
clergy ; its highest branches were discountenanced and lowered by 
the expulsion from the universities of some of the ablest professors, 
supposed to entertain liberal views. Private lecturing or teaching 
was not allowed without a previous license from the ordinary and 
police agent. The freedom of the press was fettered more than it 
had ever been before, and every work, before being published, was 
subjected to a rigorous scrutiny. Public functionaries were changed 



DESPOTIC MEASURES. 



465 




PIUS VII. 



without any regard to justice, but merely because they had served 
under the former government. All who had distinguished themselves 
in the time of Napoleon, or who were of a liberal turn of mind, were 
openly persecuted or ostracized, and their movements and words 
suspected, watched, and reported. 



466 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

In addition to all this, in the papal states ecclesiastics returned to 
fill all civil offices, and the Code Napoleon was withdrawn from those 
provinces which had formed part of the kingdom of Italy. Hence, 
there arose general discontent among the people, and thousands of 
otherwise quiet persons, either in the hope of finding redress or pro- 
tection, or only out of a feeling of revenge, united with secret political 
societies, which had been formed during French rule for the purpose 
of emancipating the Peninsula. Many officers of the army were con- 
nected with them, who, at the time of the restoration, either lost 
their position or failed to be regularly promoted. This vast combi- 
nation, supported by the general sympathies of the people, wanted 
but a small impulse to break out into open rebellion ; and it was in 
vain that the government of Naples endeavored to oppose the popu- 
lar movement by organizing a secret society called the Caldermi. 
Thus the great evil of oath-bound political associations was sanc- 
tioned by the royal party. 

When Clement XIV suppressed the Jesuits, A. D. 1773, he 
decreed the abolition of the society ''forever," but it neither ceased 
to exist nor to act. Its leaders pointed to the awful tempest of the 
French Revolution and to the fallen thrones and desecrated altars as 
the expression of God's anger at the suppression of their holy 
order, and demanded of Pius VII its restoration. Scarcely had the 
latter returned to the Vatican when he issued a bull, dated the 7th 
of August, A. D. 1 8 14, restoring the order and appointing Thad- 
deus Borzodzowsky its general or chief It is said that this step was 
taken with the full approval of the allied powers, who wished to 
reward the Jesuits for the zeal which they manifested towards the 
cause of the Bourbons. 

From 18 1 5 to 1820 Italy was not disturbed by any violent 
commotions, though the people were restless under the oppressive 
rule of their princes, who w^xq Austria's agents. In 1 8 19 young 
Cavour, the coming Italian statesman, was a student in the Military 
Academy of Turin, the school of the noble Piedmontese youth, and 
by his superior ability soon obtained the position of page in the 
household of the prince di Carignano, the future Charles Albert. But 
tl.e proud spirit of the future diplomatist chafed under the ''pack- 
saddle," as he styled it, of his livery, so that the king soon released 
him from a service that was uncongenial to his sturdy and robust 
disposition. 

At this time another youth, who was destined to play an important 
part in the deliverance of his country from foreign rule, was attend- 



GARIBALDI A SAILOR. 467 

ing school at Genoa. Guiseppe Garibaldi was born at Nice on the 
4th of July, 1807. His father was a sailor, and, after educating 
his son in the common branches, trained him to the life of a seaman 
in a vessel with himself. Garibaldi, in writing of his boyhood, refers 
to a simple incident which made a deep impression upon his mind. 
Having caught a grasshopper, he carried it into the house ; but, 
handling it too roughly he broke its leg. After reflecting on the 
injury he had done the harmless insect, he was so much affected with 
grief that he retired to his chamber and wept bitterly for several 
hours. This tenderness of heart in the child characterized him when 
he became a man. On another occasion he rescued a poor woman 
who had fallen into a deep ditch filled with water, and he declares 
that in saving her life he experienced the highest pleasure. It 
appears, therefore, that in early years, though fearless of danger, he 
was easily moved by the sight of suffering. 

The instructors of Garibaldi, Padre Gianone and Signor Arena, 
are mentioned by him in terms of grateful praise. He expresses 
regret that he was more inclined to play than to study. In view of 
the proximity of Nice to France, the Italian language was not gen- 
erally spoken in that city, and besides the government neglected to 
provide proper education for the people. Garibaldi acknowledges 
his indebtedness to Padre Gianone for instructing him in his own 
native dialect. His brother in America encouraged him in the effort, 
and also persuaded him to read Roman and Italian history, in which 
he became deeply interested. While at school in Genoa he grew 
weary of study, and especially of confinement at the desk, and there- 
fore resolved to undertake an adventure by sea and seek his fortune. 
With several companions he entered a boat, taking with him some 
provisions and fishing tackle, and sailed for the Levant. But when 
the young voyagers reached Monaco they were overtaken by a ''cor- 
sair," commanded by Garibaldi's father, and taken back to their 
homes. Garibaldi was exceedingly mortified by the failure of the 
enterprise, but it was the beginning of an adventurous career un- 
equaled in heroism and daring. 

In a short time he commenced the life of a sailor on board the- 
vessel Costanza. **How every thing is embellished," he says, in 
referring to this event, "by the feelings of youth, and how beautiful 
appeared to my ardent eyes the bark in which I was to navigate the 
Mediterranean when I stepped on board for the first time ! Her 
lofty sides, her slender masts, rising so gracefully and so high above, 
and the bust of 'Our Lady,' which adorned the bow, all remain as 

31 



468 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

distinctly painted on my memory at the present day as on the happy 
hour when I became one of her crew. How gracefully moved the 
sailors, who were fine young men from San Remi, and true speci- 
mens of intrepid Ligurians ! With what pleasure I ventured into the 
forecastle to listen to the popular songs sung by harmonious choirs ! 
They sang of love until I was transported ; and they endeavored to 
excite themselves to patriotism by singing of Italy ! But who in 
those days had ever taught them how to be patriotic and Italian ? 
Who, indeed, had then ever said on those shores to those young men 
that there was such a thing as Italy, or that they had a country 
to be ameliorated or redeemed?" 

The second voyage of Garibaldi was made to Rome in a vessel 
belonging to his father. **Rome," he exclaimed, "once the capital 
of the world, now the capital of a sect ! The Rome which I had 
painted in my imagination no longer existed. The future Rome, 
rising to regenerate the nation, has now long been a dominant idea in 
my mind, and inspired me with hope and energy. Thoughts spring- 
ing from the past, in short, have had a prevailing influence on me 
during my life. Rome, which I had before admired and thought of 
frequently, I ever since have loved. It has been dear to me beyond 
-all things, I not only admired her for her former power, and the 
■remains of antiquity, but even the smallest thing connected with her 
was precious to me. Even in exile these feelings were constantly 
cherished in my heart, and often, very often have I prayed to the 
Almighty to permit me to see that city once more. I regarded Rome 
as the center of Italy, for the union of which I ardently longed." 

Garibaldi made several voyages with his father, and afterwards one 
with Captain Gervino to Caglieri, and during the return passage, in a 
fearful storm, on the ocean, he beheld the capsizing of a Spanish boat, 
and the drowning of the crew. It was impossible to render them any 
assistance, and the Italian sailors shed tears over the sad fate of the 
unfortunate men. This experience on the ocean accustomed Gari- 
baldi to hardship and danger, and, at the same time, awakened those 
tender emotions in his heart, which, in subsequent years, manifested 
themselves in the darkest hours of his life. During one of his voy- 
ages he visited Constantinople, where he was taken sick, and, after his 
recovery, being in straitened circumstances, he taught in a private 
family. In a short time, however, he resumed the nautical life. 



CHARLES FELIX. 469 



THIRD DECADE, 1820-1830. 



Chapter III. 

JOSEPH MAZZINI AND THE CARBONARI. 

AMONG the secret political societies that existed in Italy, seek- 
ing to overthrow Austrian tyranny and to establish a republican 
form of government, was the Carbonari. It was strong in France, 
and had been introduced into Italy, where, in 1820, its membership 
embraced thousands. The order was very powerful in Naples, and, 
in 1820, under its guidance, the Neapolitans rose in insurrection 
against King Ferdinand, and demanded that the absolute rule of that 
king should give way to a constitutional monarchy. Ferdinand was 
taken at a disadvantage and granted them a constitution, which he 
intended to revoke at the first favorable opportunity. A few months 
later the emperors of Russia and Austria, and the kings of Prussia, 
Sardinia, and Naples met at Laybach, in Austria, and agreed to 
crush out the Neapolitan movement for constitutional freedom as 
dangerous to the cause of absolutism. 

In 1 82 1 a force of sixty thousand Austrians entered the Neapoli- 
tan territories, and, with their aid, King Ferdinand revoked the con- 
stitution, restored the absolute monarchy, and put down the resistance 
of his people. He celebrated his victory by treating the liberal 
leaders with great cruelty. In the same year a similar insurrection 
broke out in Piedmont, or the Sardinian kingdom, and 'the people 
demanded of King Victor Emmanuel I a constitution. Rather than 
grant this Victor Emmanuel abdicated his crown in favor of his 
brother, Charles Felix, who was at that time absent in Modena. 
Until the new king could reach Turin his cousin, Charles Albert, 
prince of Carignano, was made regent. The latter was the heir to 
the throne, as the new king had no children. For somft reason he 
complied with the demands of the liberals, but immediately upon his 
arrival at Turin Charles Felix set aside the regent's concessions and 
compelled the submission of his people by threatening to call in the 
Austrians to assist him in maintaining his power. Any thing was 
better than an Austrian intervention, and, for a while, the liberals 



470 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

were forced to submit. The Jesuits and the Austrian party endeav- 
ored to induce Charles FeHx to name as his heir Francis, duke of 
Modena, who had married a daughter of Victor Emmanuel I; but 
the king- remained faithful to his cousin, Charles Albert. Duke 
Francis began to intrigue with the liberals, and gave them to under- 
stand that, if they would declare him king of Italy, he would adopt 
their principles, head their party, and unite Italy in a constitutional 
monarch. For some time they believed him sincere. 

One Sunday in 1821, soon after the Piedmontese insurrection had 
been crushed, partly by Austria, partly by treachery, and partly 
through the weakness of its leaders, Joseph Mazzini, then a boy of 
twelve years, accompanied by his mother, and an old friend of the 
family named Andrew Gambini, walked in the Strada Nuova of 
Genoa. It was in April, and the revolutionists, seeking safety by 
sea, had flocked to that city, and finding themselves distressed for 
means they went about asking aid to enable them to cross into Spain, 
where the revolution was yet triumphant. The greater number of 
them were crowded in 5. Pier cC Arena, awaiting a chance to embark ; 
but not a few had contrived to enter the city one by one. Young 
Mazzini, who was born in Genoa in 1809, was the son of a prominent 
physician, and had been unconsciously educated in the worship of 
equality by the democratic principles of his parents, "whose bearing," 
he says, "towards high or low was ever the same." Disregarding 
the position of the individual, they estimated him by the standard of 
character. Mazzini declares that his own natural aspirations towards 
liberty were fostered by constantly hearing his father and mother, 
and Andrew Gambini, the friend already mentioned, speak of the 
recent republican era in France, by the study of the works of Livy 
and Tacitus, which his Latin master had given him to translate, and 
by ''certain old French newspapers" which he discovered half con- 
cealed behind his father's medical books. Among these last were 
some numbers of the CJironiqtie du Mois, a Girondist publication 
belonging to the first period of the French Revolution. 

While Mazzini, his mother, and Gambini were proceeding along 
the street above named, they were stopped and addressed by a tall 
black-bearded man, with a severe and energetic countenance, and a 
fiery glance that made a deep impression upon the young patriot in 
the party. Holding out a white handkerchief towards them, the 
stranger merely said: **For the refugees of Italy." A contribution 
was made and he passed on to solicit from others. This man was 
Rini, a captain in the National Guard, which had been instituted at 



MAZZmrS WRITINGS, 471 

the commencement of the revolution. He accompanied the fleeing 
repubHcans as collector, and finally perished for the cause of liberty 
in Spain. ''The idea of an existing wrong in my own country, 
against which it was a duty to struggle, and the thought that I, too, 
must bear my part in that struggle," says Mazzini, "flashed before my 
mind on that day for the first time, never again to leave me. The 
remembrance of those r^ugees, many of whom became my friends 
in after life, pursued me wherever I went by day, and mingled with 
my dreams by night. I would have given, I know not what, to 
follow them. I began collecting names and facts, and studied, as best 
I might, the records of that heroic struggle, seeking to fathom the 
causes of its failure." 

Mazzini associated with the refugees, easily detecting them either 
by their general appearance, by some peculiarity of dress, by their 
warlike air or by the signs of a deep and silent sorrow on their faces. 
The Genoese were deeply moved, and some of the boldest had pro- 
posed to Santarosa and Ansaldi, the leaders of the insurrection, to 
concentrate in and take possession of the city, thus organizing a new 
resistance ; but Genoa was found to be deprived of all means of suc- 
cessful defense; the fortresses were without artillery, and the leaders 
had rejected the proposition, telling them to preserve themselves for 
a better fate. The sympathy of young Mazzini was profoundly 
excited, and the desire to deliver his country from foreign oppression 
became an absorbing passion. When at school, surrounded by noisy, 
tumultuous students, he was silent and somber, and appeared like 
one suddenly grown old. He even resolved to dress always in black, 
fancying himself in mourning for Italy, and his mind was so much 
burdened that his mother feared he would commit suicide. 

This first tempest of feeling, however, passed away, and by 
degrees a calmer state of mind was enjoyed by the young patriot. 
His friendship for the Ruflinis — an interesting family — had a tendency 
to soothe his troubled spirit, and afford relief to the inward passion 
that consumed him. He conversed with them of literature, of the 
intellectual resurrection of Italy, and upon philosophico-religious 
questions; but that which brought peace to his mind was the propo- 
sition to form associations for the purpose of smuggling books pro- 
hibited by the police. This opening, though on a small scale, 
encouraged Mazzini, who soon drew around him a little circle of 
chosen friends, whom he designated as "a group of Pleiads, and a 
salvation to my tormented spirit." Toward the end of 1826 he wrote 
his first literary article, ''DelVAmor Patrio di Dant^,'" and boldly 



4/2 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

sent it to the ''Antologia,'' of Florence, but it was not published; 
subsequently, however, it was inserted in the ''Subalpmo,'' by N. 
Tommasseo. For several years Mazzini had studied the writings of 
fiante, and he venerated him not only as a poet, but as the father of 
the Itatian nation. In 1827 the literary war between the classicist 
and romantic schools was raging fiercely. It was a war between the 
supporters of a literary despotism, dating its origin and authority 
two thousand years back, and those who sought to emancipate 
themselves from its tyranny in the name of their own individual 
inspiration. Mazzini and the young men who followed him belonged 
to the latter school. The literati of that period were neither citizens 
nor patriots, and were completely governed by the false French doc- 
trine of art for art's sake. But Tommasseo and Montani, in the 
fruitful and fostering school of criticism, taught in their "Antologia," 
declared that without a country and without liberty no vital art could 
be produced. The writings of Count Alessandro Manzoni presented 
similar views. The patriotic heart of this great author earnestly 
desired the freedom of Italy, and noble sentiments breathing that 
spirit occasionally transpire in the choruses of his tragedies and other 
passages of his works, though restrained by his devotion to the 
Roman Catholic Church and the gentleness of his nature. Mazzini 
declares that the ideas awakened in him in 1 821 still burned in his 
soul in 1827, and moved him to renounce the career of literature for 
the more direct path of political action. 

At that time a small journal called the Indicatore Genovese was 
published in Genoa by one Ponthenier, who Avas also the editor. 
It contained mercantile advertisements, and Mazzini persuaded the 
proprietor to admit notices of books he had for sale, embracing a 
brief description of each. This was the commencement of his career 
as a critic. By degrees the advertisements swelled into articles, but 
the government, which slumbered like the country, either did not 
heed or did not observe them, and the Indicatore gradually became 
a literary journal. These articles, which were collected and published 
at Lugano many years afterwards under the title of "Scritti Letterari 
d'un Italiano Vivente," show how Mazzini and his few friends under- 
stood the question of ''Romanticism" or progressive literature. The 
controversy now assumed a political aspect, and though it was only 
a miniature warfare, resembling a skirmish between the riflemen of 
the two camps, yet it was the first step towards national indepen- 
dence. Mazzini, believing that the latter could only be secured by 
the freedom of the press, desired to arouse the youth of the country 



INDICA TORE LIVORNESE. 473 

and infuse a new spirit into the hidden, latent life, fermenting deep 
down in the heart of Italy. He knew that the effort to unite these 
elements — literary and political independence — would be resisted by 
both foreign and domestic tyranny. At last the government observed 
Mazzini's writings and became incensed, and when he, flushed with 
success, announced at the end of the first year his intention to enlarge 
his journal, a governmental veto suddenly extinguished it. 

These few articles, full of vigor and daring, gave Mazzini a cer- 
tain amount of fame in his native city, and he made the acquaintance 
of the writers of the ''Antologia" of Florence, men who were Ital- 
ians at heart, though the majority of them were timid. He won 
their friendship by writing a reproof to Carlo Botta, who by his 
productions had fascinated the young men ; and he published two 
articles on Guerrazzi's drama, the ''Bianchi e Neri," which led to a 
correspondence between him and that celebrated man. Guerrazzi 
had already written not only that drama, but the * ' Battaglia di 
Benevento ;" yet so great was the distance between the provinces in 
those days that Mazzini had not heard of him until he accidentally 
met with the " Bianchi e Neri." He replied to a letter written to 
him by the author, and this was the commencement of an enthusi- 
astic and fraternal correspondence between these patriots. 

When the Sardinian government suppressed the Indicatore Gan- 
ovese they suggested the idea of continuing the publication in Leg- 
horn under the title of the Indicatore Livornese. Guerrazzi, Carlo 
Bini, and Mazzini were the chief contributors to this second journal, 
in which the political purposes of the writers were more openly 
revealed — almost, indeed, without disguise. They wrote of Foscolo, 
who, apart from his other merits, is deserving of the reverence of 
the Italians, because he was the first, both in word and deed, to 
restore literature to its true patriotic mission in the person of the 
writer. They wrote of ''The Exile," a poem by Pietro Giannone, 
then himself in exile — a man of incorruptible fidelity, and an ardent 
lover of freedom. They also wrote of Giovanni Berchet, the author 
of magnificent poems, full of patriotism, and whose works were de- 
graded and lost, in 1848, among the patricians and the courtiers of 
royalty in Milan. 

The Indicatore Livornese became so bold by the end of the year 
that even the slumbering Tuscan government ordered the pub- 
lishers to discontinue it, and they obeyed the official order; but the 
two journals had aroused a certain number of young men, who, in 
1829, were collected together and ready for action. They were con- 



474 ^^^^ ^ STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

vinced that the various governments in Italy were dehberately 
opposed to progress and hostile to liberty. **In the midst of all this 
literary warfare," says Mazzini, '*I never forgot my own purpose, 
and I continued to look around me to discover men capable of 
attempting an enterprise. Whispers were rife amongst us of a 
revival of Carbonarism. I watched, questioned, and searched on 
every side, until at last a friend of mine — a certain Torre — confessed 
to me that he was a member of the sect, or, as it was called in those 
days, the order, and offered me initiation. I accepted. While stu- 
dying the events of 1820 and 1821 I had learned much of Carbonar- 
ism, and I did not much admire the complex symbolism, the hier- 
archical mysteries, nor the political faith — or, rather, the absence of 
political faith — I discovered in that institution. But I was at that 
time unable to attempt to form any association of my own ; and in 
the Carbonari I found a body of men in whom — however inferior to 
the idea they represented — thought and action, faith and works, were 
identical. Here were men who, defying alike excommunication and 
capital punishment, had the persistent energy ever to persevere, and 
to weave a fresh web each time the old one was broken. And this 
was enough to induce me to join my name and my labors to theirs." 
Mazzini has given an interesting account of his initiation into the 
Carbonari. He was conducted one evening to the highest story of a 
certain house, where he met a man named Riamondo Doria, half 
Corsican, half Spaniard, who was already advanced in years, and had 
a forbidding countenance. The candidate was solemnly informed 
that he would be spared the usual symbolical rites, ceremonies, and 
ordeals, because numerous meetings could not be held while the 
government was so vigilant. Doria asked him whether he was ready 
to act, and to obey the instructions that would be imparted to him 
from time to time, and even to sacrifice himself, if necessary, for the 
good of the order. Mazzini responded in the affirmative ; and, 
kneeling down at the request of Doria, who unsheathed a dagger, 
proceeded to repeat the formula of oath administered to the initiate 
of the first or lowest rank. He then received from Doria two or 
three signs by which to recognize the brethren, and was declared a 
Cai^onaro. Mazzini was not fully satisfied, and interrogated the 
friend who had accompanied him to and from the place of meeting, 
concerning the organization — its aim, its members, and its work; but 
in vain. He was told to be silent, to obey, and to slowly deserve 
and receive confidence. His friend congratulated him on the fact 
that in view of circumstances he had not been required to pass 



FEATURES OF CARBONARISM, 475 

through the usual trying ordeals, and asked him what he would have 
done if he had been, as in the case of others, in that part of the 
ceremony where the candidate must fire off a pistol in his own ear, 
which had been previously loaded before his eyes. Mazzini replied 
that he would have refused obedience to such a demand, ' ' telling 
the initiators," he remarks, in his characteristic manner, "that either 
there was some valve in the interior of the pistol into which the 
bullet fell — in which case the affair was a farce, and unworthy of 
both of us — or the bullet had really remained in the stock ; and in 
that case it struck me as somewhat absurd to call upon a man to 
fight for his country, and make it his first duty to blow out the few 
brains God had vouchsafed to him." The more Mazzini reflected 
upon the oath which had been administered to him, the more he 
realized that it was a mere formula of obedience, saying nothing con- 
cerning the aim to be reached. He remembered that his initiator had 
not referred to federalism or unity, republic or monarchy. War to 
the government, and nothing more was proposed. 

The contribution required from each member of the Carbonari was 
twenty francs at the time of initiation, besides a monthly subscrip- 
tion of five francs. Mazzini regarded this a heavy tax for a student 
like him to pay; but he cheerfully made the sacrifice for the good 
of his country. He denounced the selfishness of those who wasted 
large sums of money in procuring comforts or enjoyments, which to 
a great extent were more imaginary than real, and imperiled the 
honorj dignity, and even the very life of their own souls and those 
of their fellow-men, rather than ''unloosen the strings of their purse." 
After directing attention to the noble example of the early Chris- 
tians, who cast all their possessions at the feet of the apostles for 
the benefit of the poorer brethren, merely reserving for themselves 
the bare necessaries of existence, Mazzini, addressing those who 
should have been willing ' * to coin their very blood to create a coun- 
try or found true liberty," said: "Amongst us it is a gigantic, a 
Utopian enterprise to find, among twenty-five millions of men who 
all prate of liberty, one million ready to bestow a single franc each 
day for the emancipation of Venetia. The first had faith ; we have 
only opinions." 

Soon after his first connection with the order the Genoese patriot 
was initiated into the second rank, with power to affiliate others ; and 
among the Carbonari with whom he became acquainted was Passano, 
a high dignitary of the brotherhood, who had formerly been the 
French consul at Ancona. He is described as an old man, full of life 



4/6 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 




MAZZTNI. 



and energy, but more concerned in petty intrigues and low political 
artifices than in manly efforts to secure the object of the order. As 
yet Mazzini was completely ignorant of the programme, and was even 
disposed to think that nothing would be done, because the Carbonari 
generally spoke of Italy as a nation inheriting no power to act, being 
a kind of secondary appendix to Europe. They called themselves 
cosmopolitans, a term which Mazzini said was acceptable to him, 
provided it meant liberty for all men. At that time the struggle 
between the French opposition and Charles X was at its height, both 
in and out of the chamber, and the popular names constantly men- 
tioned among the Carbonari were Guizot, Berthe, Lafayette, and the 
* Haut Vente" at Paris. The lever of republicanism, that is des- 
tined to move Europe and lift it out of the rubbish of decayed 



DORM'S THREAT. 477 

thrones needs a fulcrum, and, while many of the Carbonari in 1829 
looked for it in Paris, Mazzini sought it in Italy. 

Having been commissioned to write in French a declaration in 
favor of the liberty of Spain, Mazzini set forth the illegality and also 
the disastrous effects of the Bourbon intervention of 1823. After 
performing this duty he occupied himself in affiliating other students, 
believing that the time would soon come when the young men would 
be sufficiently strong in numbers to form a compact nucleus among 
themselves and infuse some new life into the Carbonari. He also 
continued his skirmishes against those whom he called the ''mon- 
archists of literature," and wrote the article " Upon a European 
Literature," which, after long discussions and much correspondence, 
was inserted in the ''Antologia" of Florence, At length the Car- 
bonari leaders were aroused to a slight degree of activity by the evi- 
dent approach of the political tempest in France, and Mazzini was 
appointed to visit Tuscany and establish the order there. He dis- 
liked to undertake this mission, not only because it would separate 
him from his home, but also on account of financial inability. After 
long hesitation, however, he decided to go, and, stating to the family 
that he would be absent a few days visiting a student at Arenzano, 
he obtained a small sum of money upon various pretexts from his 
mother, and prepared to depart. The day before he started an inci- 
dent occurred which did not give him an exalted opinion of Carbo- 
narisni. Having been ordered to go to the Ponte della Mercanzia at 
midnight he obeyed, and met several young men there whom he had 
enrolled, and who, like himself, were ignorant of the object of the 
convocation. After waiting a long time, they beheld Doria ap- 
proaching, accompanied by two strangers, whose faces, up to the 
eyes, were covered by their cloaks. The hearts of the young men 
bounded within them at the thought and hope of action. 

Having arranged them in a circle, Doria commenced a discourse, 
directed at Mazzini, in which he referred to the culpable conduct of 
certain inexpert and imprudent young men who had criticised the 
order, and pointing to the two cloaked individuals, who were as mute 
as specters, he said that they were about to start on the morrow for 
Bologna in order to stab a Carbonaro there for having spoken against 
the chiefs. Doria, in conclusion, declared that the order was deter- 
mined to crush rebels as soon as they were discovered. Mazzini 
knew that he was an offender, because he had uttered complaints 
which some zealous member reported at headquarters. But Doria's 
stupid threat sent a thrill of indignation and anger through him, and 



478 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

he notified the leaders that he would not go to Tuscany, at the same 
time informing them that they were at liberty to crush him. Some of 
his friends, however, admonished him, when he became calmer, not 
to sacrifice the cause of his country to his own offended individuality, 
and, after carefully considering the matter, he resolved to obey. He 
went to Leghorn and there established a Vcnte, enrolling several Tus- 
cans and some of other provinces. Among the initiated were Camillo 
d'Adda, a Lombard, a pupil of Romagnosi, who had just left an 
Austrian prison, and Marliani, who died, some years later, defending 
Bologna from the Austrians. Mazzini intrusted all the remaining 
duties growing out of his mission to Carlo Bini, who was *'a young 
man of pure and noble soul, which he had preserved uncontaminated 
throughout a life passed amid the rude and quarrelsome popiilani of 
Venezia, a quarter of Leghorn so-called." He possessed great intel- 
lectual power, which revealed itself only occasionally, because his 
mind, confined to mercantile pursuits, was still further hindered in its 
development by a profound skepticism, which, though not extending 
to matters of principle, included the men and events of his own day. 
He was a man of ** extraordinary moral rectitude, and an immense 
capacity of sacrifice — all the more meritorious in one without faith or 
hope in its results." 

Bini, as well as Mazzini, laughed at all the forms and symbolism 
of Carboiiarism, but both believed in the great importance of organi- 
zation, in some shape or other, for action. They traveled together to 
Montepulciano, where Guerrazzi was then confined for the offense of 
having recited a few solemn pages in praise of a brave Italian soldier, 
Cosimo Delfante. Mazzini in his account of the interview, which he 
had with Guerrazzi, states that the latter was then writing the ' ' Assedio 
di Firenze," the introductory chapters of which he read to his two 
visitors, the blood, in the mean time, rushing to his face and causing 
him to bathe his head in order to calm himself During the conver- 
sation the historical and philosophical lectures of Guizot and Cousin, 
then coming from the French press, were discussed. 



THE WALDENSES ASSISTED. 479 



Third Decade, Continued, 1820-1830. 



Chapter IV. 

THE WALDENSES— COL. BECICWITH—THE PAPACY. 

IN 1823 an important step was taken toward the advancement of 
education in the *' Valleys" of Piedmont. After the long- storm' 
of war, which had spread its devastations over Europe for more than 
twenty years, had passed away, and general peace was restored upon 
the final overthrow of Napoleon, English Christians, in their visits to 
the Continent, began to make their way to Italy, and some of them 
turned asi(ie to see what had become of the ** Church in the wilder- 
ness," which they found unconsumed, like the bush which Moses be- 
held in the midst of the flames in Mount Horeb. Among those who 
visited the Waldenses at that time were the Rev. W. Stephen Gilly, 
Prebendary of Durham, Rev. Mr. Sims, and Sir Hugh Duke Acland. 
Dr. Gilly in particular, by a work, entitled ** Waldensian Researches," 
which he published in 1823, created a great interest in behalf of this 
body of primitive Christians. Several books on the same subject also 
appeared on the Continent, and deeply moved the hearts of philan- 
thropists in Holland, Germany, and Switzerland. In consequence 
of the obscurity in which the Waldenses had remained for many 
years, great ignorance concerning them prevailed, and even Sharon 
Turner in his ''History of England," located them on the shores of 
Lake Leman, confounding the "Valleys" of the Vaudois with the 
Canton de Vaud. 

When the condition of the Waldenses — their poverty, the insuffi- 
cient number and support of their pastors, and the want of a college, 
hospital, primary schools, etc. — became known large sums were 
raised in the course of five or six years for their aid. Rev. Mr. 
Sims obtained a considerable amount for the establishment of girls' 
schools, and, in 1827, Dr. Gilly and other friends succeeded in induc- 
ing the British government to restore the stipend, which had been 
long paid, with some serious interruptions, for the support of thir- 
teen Waldensian pastors. Over sixteen thousand pounds was sent by 
OHver Cromwell, A. D. 1655-A. D. 1658, to assist the Vaudois, 
after the horrible persecution to which they had just been subjected. 



48o ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

This sum was designed by him to be a fund for the future assistance 
of the Vaudois; but Charles II shamefully spent it for his private 
gratification. To replace this in part, and to efface the national dis- 
grace, Queen Mary, wife of William III, gave, during her life, an 
annual pension of four hundred and twenty-five pounds ; but it was 
discontinued upon her death. Finally, it was again sent by order of 
Queen Anne, and, at the instance of Archbishop Sharpe, was increased 
to five hundred pounds. This sum, under the name of royal bounty, 
was regularly issued from the British exchequer every year until 
1797. From that time it was discontinued for a period of thirty years, 
partly because the "Valleys" were in the possession of France, dur- 
ing the former part of that period, and partly because the subject 
seemed to be overlooked by those in power as well as by others, 
with the exception of a few, who were unable to induce the govern- 
ment to restore the annuity. When it was renewed in 1827 the sum 
was reduced to two hundred and seventy-seven pounds sterling, which 
amounted to a little more than twenty-one pounds, or one hundred 
dollars, for each of the thirteen pastors. To their great credit, how- 
ever, they refused to accept more than sixty dollars each, and devoted 
the remaining sum to the support of two more pastors, and the assis- 
tance of disabled ministers and widows of ministers. 

Before the year 1830 twenty thousand five hundred dollars had 
been received for the Waldenses from France, Switzerland, Denmark, 
Sweden, and some German states, and this amount was appropriated 
to buy the grounds, erect, and furnish a hospital at La Tour and a 
dispensary at Pomaret, with the exception of eight thousand francs, 
which were funded. In England the sum of seven thousand three 
hundred and two pounds sterling had been raised, of which the inter- 
est was appropriated as follows: one hundred and fifty pounds to the 
hospital and dispensary, twenty pounds to the education of young men 
for the ministry, and forty pounds to the support of four girls' schools 
of industry. The money raised in Holland and Prussia was invested 
in the public funds, and the interest, amounting to one hundred and 
fifty pounds, was sent to the Vaudois. Indeed, this wonderful peo- 
ple have extensively shared the sympathy of their fellow-Protestants 
of every land for a long period. From first to last, probably not 
less than one hundred thousand pounds sterling have been collected 
in Great Britain alone, to sustain these children of the "Valleys," 
and at least fifty thousand pounds have been donated by the other 
Protestant countries of Europe and the United States of America. 
It is but fitting that Protestant Christendom should thus testify a 



COL. BECK WITH. 48 1 

sense of its obligation to this ancient people, who maintained the 
purity of the Gospel when all others had bowed their necks to the 
papal Antichrist. 

But the best friend and most efficient worker in behalf of the 
Waldenses at that time was Col. John Charles Beckwith, whose 
career is invested with a romance not unlike that which belongs to 
the life of Ignatius Loyola. He was born in England in the Sum- 
mer of 1790, and entered the British army in his fifteenth year, 
serving in Hanover, in 1805, and subsequently in Sweden, Portugal, 
and Spain. During the Peninsular campaigns of the duke of Wel- 
lington young Beckwith was on the staff of that great general, and 
was in almost every considerable action without receiving a wound; 
but in the battle of Waterloo, on the i8th of June, 18 15, his left 
leg was carried away by a cannon ball. Having been rendered unfit 
for military service in the field, he retired on half-pay, his name, 
however, retaining its place on the army list. At the age of twenty- 
eight he was promoted to the grade of colonel. Released from active 
service, he spent his time, for years, partly with his mother and sis- 
ters in England and partly in foreign travel. During the Winter of 
1819-20 he was in the United States, ajid, as a gay British officer, 
with a wooden leg, attracted considerable attention. At that period 
of his life he was not a religious man, and, though born and brought 
up in the Established Church of England, had not experienced the 
power of saving grace. He returned to England, and, being a favo- 
rite with the duke of Wellington, was often invited to Apsley House. 
One day in 1827, while there, an incident occurred which influenced 
his entire subsequent career. The duke being particularly engaged 
at the time of his call, he was shown into the library to wait until 
he should be at leisure. To while away the time, he took from the 
shelves a book, and began to read it. It was Dr. Gilly's * ' Walden- 
sian Researches," published in 1823. He had perused but a few 
pages when he was summoned to the duke's room; but the volume, 
as far as read, had made such an impression upon him that he pur- 
chased a copy of it, and collected whatever else he could find relat- 
ing to these poor mountaineers. He felt himself drawn irresistibly 
to a people with whose wonderful history he had become acquainted 
for the first time. From that hour his life was consecrated to them. 

In 1827 Colonel Beckwith, desiring to know more concerning the 
Waldenses, visited Piedmont ; but remained only three or four days. 
The next year he spent three months in the "Valleys," and after- 
wards six months, until finally he made his permanent home there. 



482 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

He exerted himself for the improvement of the people, and con- 
tributed largely of his own means to aid them. The Waldenses 
desired to give their children the best education which their extreme 
poverty permitted ; but it was difficult for them to procure books, 
and besides, for several centuries, they had not, in the fires of perse- 
cution, any opportunity to build up a good educational system. 
Colonel Beckwith found very few schools, and therefore incited the 
inhabitants to rebuild their school-houses. But, while education was 
much neglected among them, their religious condition was good. 
They had suffered very much in their morals for years from the per- 
nicious influence of the French troops that so often traversed their 
''Valleys" in the time of Napoleon, as well as from the bad habits 
which their own conscripts in many cases brought back from the 
armies of that modern Alexander. But the visit of that wonderful 
man, Felix Neff, to the ** Valleys," about the year 1823, produced 
glorious moral results, and that purity of life which so greatly distin- 
guished their ancestors had to a good degree returned at the period 
of Colonel Beckwith's settlement among them. 

When this noble philanthropist visited Italy he found the people 
in mental and moral darkness. The Romish Church was corrupt, 
and its leaders tyrannical. On the 20th of August, 1823, Pope 
Pius VII, whom Napoleon called a ** fanatic," passed away from 
earth, in the eighty-third year of his age. He had excommunicated 
the liberals, restored the Jesuits, brought back to life the bull, In 
ccena Domini^ re-established the Inquisition and the torture, and la- 
bored to suppress the national aspirations of the Italian people. The 
conclave which assembled after his death was filled Avith cardinals 
created by Consalvi, with two exceptions — La Sommaglia and that 
famous Cardinal Ruffo, who had commanded the bands of the Santa 
Fede, at Naples. The forty-nine cardinals of the conclave were all 
old men, the younger part being composed of cardinals from fifty to 
fifty-nine years of age ! 

Cavalchini, Dandini, and Severoli were mentioned, and their qual- 
ifications discussed ; but no decision was reached until September 29, 
1823, when the wall of the balcony of the Vatican fell, and Cardinal 
Ruffo, presenting himself before the people with a red cap on his 
head, cried out, with a loud voice, " Annuntio vobis gaudium mag- 
num, papam habemus." Cardinal de la Genga was proclaimed pontiff, 
under the title of Leo XII. ''The devil! a lion!" exclaimed the 
people in their turn: "Abbiamo dunque un papa bestia" (we have, 
then, for a pope a beast) ! He had followed the career of diplomacy 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTION, 483 

at Paris, Munich, and elsewhere, and had a hand in all the intrigues 
which the courts of Europe had in secret plotted against Napoleon. 
He had acquired, at the courts and salons of Europe, aristocratic and 
elegant tastes, and enlarged views in matters of social life, but at the 
same time had also acquired the habit of feigning, dissembling, and 
mistrusting. He despised the people and the ideas which obtained 
in the world since 1789, and would have made an excellent pope for 
the Middle Ages. He hated liberty, science, and progress, renewed 
the bulls against the Carbonari^ and persecuted the liberals in every 
way. His secretary of state. Cardinal de la Sommaglia, having died, 
Leo Xn appointed as his successor the Cardinal-deacon Tommaso 
Bernetti de Fermo, who was descended from a plebeian family, but 
as a prelate passed successively from cJiieiico di camei^a to minister of 
war, and finally to governor of Rome. Leo XH died February 10, 
^1829, and was succeeded, March 31st of the same year, by Pius VHI, 
who issued, on the 14th of the following May, a general edict of the 
*' Holy Office," and the work of the Inquisition continued. 



FOURTH DECADE, 1830-1840. 



Chapter V. 

THE ITALIAN REVOLUTION—'^ YOUNG ITALVy 

THE period of Italian history extending from 1830 to 1840 was 
one of agitation and revolution. In the beginning of the decade 
the political state of the country appeared tranquil to a superficial 
observer ; but a strong feeling of dissatisfaction pervaded the public 
mind. The French revolution of 1830 profoundly stirred the Italian 
people, and aroused the hope that their deliverance from the Aus- 
trians, the priests, and the princes was at hand. The news from 
Paris was eagerly sought, and multitudes surrounded the post-offices, 
while young men, standing on the benches in front of the cafes, read 
the newspapers aloud to the bystanders. The echo of the cannon fired 
on the 2d of February, 183 1, against the dwelling of Ciro Menotti, 
in Modena, gave the signal for the insurrection. On the 4th of the 
month Bologna rose; and on the 5th Modena, recovering from the 
first surprise, drove out the duke and his supporters. Imola, Faenza, 

32 



484 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Forli, Cesena, and Ravenna shook off their rulers. On the 7th of 
February Ferrara defeated the Austrians, and compelled theni to 
retire. Pesaro, Fossombrone, Fano, and Urbino emancipated them- 
selves on the 8th of the same month, and on the 13th the movement 
was triumphant in Parma, Macerata, Camerino, Ascoli, Perugia, 
Terni, Narni. and other cities. Ancona, where at the outset Colonel 
Sutterman showed a disposition to resist, yielded to a few companies 
of soldiers and national guards, led by Sercognani. "Thus, by the 
25th of February," says Mazzini, ** nearly two millions and a half 
of Italians had embraced the national cause, and were ready, not 
only for defensive, but for offensive war for the emancipation of their 
fellow-countrymen." 

During the first days of the insurrection the youth of Bologna 
had endeavored to invade Tuscany, and they of Modena and Reggio 
to reach Massa, and later the national guards demanded to be led 
through Furlo into the kingdom of Naples. The Italian tricolored 
cockade was adopted every-where, in spite of the entreaties of Orioli 
and others who afterwards formed part of the government. The 
instinct of the multitude was for national independence; but the lead- 
ers feared to make a declaration of principles. They sought the 
favor of kings, and prostrated the popular movement at the feet of 
diplomacy. The revolution, from the very nature of its elements, 
and the special position of the provinces, was necessarily republican, 
and the sympathy of existing governments was therefore impossible. 
Instead of trusting the people the leaders watched the actions of 
France and Austria ; and this weakness and hesitation awakened a 
feeling of distrust in the insurgent states, and spread discouragement 
over the other provinces of Italy. 

The principle of non-intervention had been explicitly and solemnly 
proclaimed by the French government. Before the insurrection oc- 
curred a memorial had been drawn up by various influential Italians 
to inquire of the French embassador (Latour Marbourg) what would 
be the conduct of France in case an Italian revolution should pro- 
voke the armed intervention of Austria, and the embassador had 
written with his own hand that France would support the revolution, 
provided the new government should not assume an anarchical form, 
and should recognize the order of things generally adopted in Eu- 
rope. Marbourg afterwards denied this note ; but the fact that it 
was sent to the ** provisional government" during the first days of 
the movement was stated by Francesco Orioli, one of the members 
who read it. On the ist of December, 1830, the president of the 



THE REVOLUTION STA TIONAR V. 485 

Chamber of Deputies, Lafitte, had spoken the following words : 
"France will not allow any violation of the principle of non-inter- 
vention. . . . The Holy Alliance made it a fundamental prin- 
ciple to suffocate popular liberty wheresoever it should raise its 
standard ; the new principle proclaimed by France is that of allow^ing 
the unimpeded development of liberty wheresoever it may spontane- 
ously arise." On the 15th of January Guizot had declared: "The 
principle of non-intervention is identical with the principle of the 
peoples;" and on the twenty-second of the same month the minister 
of foreign affairs had said: "The Holy Alliance was founded on the 
principle of intervention for the overthrow of the independence of all 
secondary states ; the opposite principle, consecrated by us, and which 
we intend to see respected, assures liberty and independence to all." 
On the 28th of the month the same things were repeated by the duke 
of Dalmatia, and, on the 29th, by Sebastiani. 

As war with Austria w^as inevitable, republican leaders like Maz- 
zini urged the people to prepare for hostilities ; but the provisional 
government of the insurgent provinces chose to adopt the hypothesis 
that Austria would not invade, thus allowing the insurrection suffi- 
cient time to implant itself firmly in the heart of Italy. It is strange 
that such an idea could be entertained a moment, as Austria would 
never consent to the establishment of a free government in the vicin- 
ity of her Lombardo-Venetian possessions. The authorities of Parma 
and Modena exhibited their want of courage by declaring that the 
people were compelled to form a new government because the princes 
had abandoned their states without establishing any, while the gov- 
ernment of Bologna defended its organization on the ground that 
Monsignor Clarelli, the pro-legate, had announced his determination 
of entirely renouncing the administration of political affairs, and that, 
therefore, something must be done to prevent anarchy. Even when 
X the revolution was a success, and they held the reins in . their own 
hands, the leaders, instead of using bolder language to give the 
movement greater internal security, endeavored to deduce the right 
of Bologna to liberty from the local tradition of a compact signed 
A. D. 1447 between Bologna and Pope Nicholas V ; and a long, 
pedantic, ignoble piece of writing, dated the 25th of February, 1831, 
was published by the president, Vicini, commenting, attorney- fashion, 
upon that tradition. In Parma the leadership of the national guard 
was offered to a certain Fedeli ; but he refused to accept it without 
permission from the duchess. The government allowed him to re- 
quest that permission, and was repaid for its folly by his forming a 



486 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

retrograde conspiracy. At a later period, and when their finances were 
ahnost exhausted, they passed a decree ordering that the payment of 
the salaries of the employes of the banished court should be continued. 

During the fermentation produced by the rising of Central Italy, 
in Naples, in Piedmont, and on every side, \Vhile all were anxiously 
awaiting inspiration from the central focus wherein the insurrection 
had been first kindled, the decree of the nth of February coldly 
announced that Bologna "did not intend to interrupt her friendly re- 
lations with other states, nor to permit the smallest violation of their 
territories; hoping that in return no intervention to her disadvantage 
would take place, as she had no intention of being drawn into action 
unless in self-defense." By this act the center of the republican 
movement abdicated all initiative, and separated her cause from the 
cause of Italy. Thus the leaders at Bologna, trusting solely in the 
promises of foreign governments, gave up all idea not only of offense 
but of defense. The plan of organizing a militia was rejected. The 
fortifications of Ancona were not rebuilt. The suggestions of Zucchi, 
who, on his arrival in Bologna, ordered the formation of six regiments 
of infantry and two of cavalry, were opposed. The idea repeatedly 
suggested by Sercognani, of a decisive enterprise upon Rome, where 
s}qnptoms of insurrection had manifested themselves on the I2th of 
February, was repulsed. Neither the minister, Armandi, nor any of 
the others seemed capable of comprehending the power and signifi- 
cance of an Italian banner floating from the capitol. Fear was visible 
in every decree, and, says MazzinI, ' ' Not a single act was passed, 
therefore, asserting the sovereignty and right of the nation; none to 
call the people to arms; none to organize the elections; none to incite 
or encourage the neighboring provinces of Italy to rise." 

The murmurs of the Italian youth w^ere quieted by repeated prom- 
ises, which w^ere never fulfilled, and the stern voice of the press was 
silenced by the edict of the I2th of February, ** decreeing a penalty 
of fine or imprisonment to the sellers of any writings likely to injure 
the existing peaceful and friendly relations with foreign governments." 
And, as an inevitable consequence of its policy, the ''Provisional 
Government" was abandoned and betrayed by all. The French 
government did not even deign a reply to Count Bianchetti, who 
w^as sent to Florence to interrogate the embassadors of France and 
Austria, whilst it continued to maintain a friendly correspondence 
with the court of Rome. Count St. Aulaire, the envoy of France 
to Rome, avoided the route of Bologna and all contact with its pro- 
visional government. Austria added insult to outrage by declaring 



AUSTRIA VICTORIOUS. 487 

her intentions to invade Parma and Modena, and promising to respect 
Bologna if she behaved well. The invasion of Parma, Modena, and 
Reggio soon followed, and on the 6th of March, 1831, the provis- 
ional government declared, **The affairs of the Modenese are no 
concern of ours; non-intervention is a law for us as well as for our 
neighbors; and none of us have any business to mix ourselves up 
with the affairs of the states on our frontiers." They also ordered 
that all ** foreigners presenting themselves on their frontier should 
be disarmed and sent back;" and seven hundred Modenese foreign- 
ers, headed by Zucchi, were compelled to pass through Bologna as 
prisoners. 

After the Austrians had occupied Ferrara they next took posses- 
sion of Bologna, presenting themselves at the gates on the 20th of 
March. The government, after giving orders that the National Guard 
should preserve the public peace, retired to Ancona, where, on the 
25th of March, — two days after they had abdicated all power by the 
election of a Triumvirate — they capitulated to Cardinal Benvenuti, 
praying for an amnesty. The request was signed by all the members 
of the government except Carlo Pepoli, who was absent. The con- 
ditions of the capitulation were violated, as was to be expected, and 
it was annulled on the 5th of April by the pope. On the 14th and 
30th of the same month edicts were issued condemning the leaders, 
accomplices, and approvers. Louis Philippe, imitating the example 
of many crowned heads, insulted the fallen by announcing to the 
Chamber, in his speech of the 23d of June, that he had obtained 
from the pope a complete amnesty for the insurgents. In the mean 
time the neutrality of the seas was violated by the capture of the 
vessel which was conveying Zucchi and about seventy others into 
exile, and conducting them as prisoners to Venice. 

Thus Parma, Modena, Ferrara, Bologna, and other revolted prov- 
inces quietly submitted to Austria. While these stirring events were 
transpiring, Mazzini was a prisoner in the fortress of Savona, on the 
Western Riviera. The French Revolution of July, 1830, aroused 
him and the other young men belonging to the Carbonari, and they 
proceeded to cast bullets and to make all preparations for the conflict, 
which they believed to be certain and decisive. Soon after the three 
days of Paris, Mazzini received an order to go at a certain hour to 
the **Lion Rouge," a hotel then existing in the Salita S. Siro, where 
he would find a certain Major Cottin, either of Nice or Savoy, who 
was already initiated into the first rank of the Carbonari, and desired 
to be affiliated in the second. As the young men of the order were 



488 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

regarded by the leaders as mere machines, Mazzini was compelled to 
accept the commission, not even daring to ask why he was selected 
rather than some member personally known to the major. Before 
going to the hotel he had a presentiment that he might be arrested, 
and therefore devised a method by which he could secretly corre- 
spond with the Ruffinis, who were intimate with his mother, through 
the medium of the family letters in case of imprisonment. This 
precaution proved wise. On the appointed day Mazzini went to the 
"Lion Rouge," asked for Cottin, and, after making himself known 
by the usual signs to show that he was a brother, or, as it was then 
called, a cousin of the order, he stated to him the object of his visit. 
He was invited by Cottin into his bedroom, and the latter, having 
knelt down, the former, drawing a sword from his stick, in accord- 
ance with the prescribed form, was just beginning to make the can- 
didate repeat the usual oath when a small window, cut in the wall 
by the side of the bed, suddenly opened, and an unknown face 
presented itself, looked sharply at Mazzini, and disappeared. Cottin 
requested him to proceed with the ceremony and not be alarmed, as 
the strange visitor was only a confidential servant. When the initi- 
ation was completed, the major declared that he would start in a i^\\[ 
days for Nice, where he could accomplish something among the mil- 
itary, and, professing to have a treacherous memory, he asked Mazzini 
to give him a formula of initiation in writing. The latter refused, 
saying that he was not permitted to write it, but that he might dic- 
tate it to any member. Cottin wrote what was thus imparted, and 
then retired. He was a small man, without any uniform, spoke 
French, and had a forbidding eye. 

Mazzini was dissatisfied with this individual, and fears of betrayal 
disturbed him. He was not altogether surprised, therefore, when 
arrested by the police a few days later, but he congratulated himself 
that the Sbirri, who seized him, did not closely search his person. 
At that time he had articles enough with him to secure three con- 
demnations: rifle bullets, a letter in cipher from Bini, a history of 
the three days of July, printed on tricolored paper, the formula of 
the oath for the second rank of Carbonari, and a sword-stick. He 
was taken by the officers when in the act of leaving the family resi- 
dence, which was subjected to a close examination without leading 
to dangerous discoveries. Mazzini, who succeeded in getting rid of 
every thing about his person, refers to the inefficiency of the police 
by saying that "they had all the inclination, but not sufficient 
capacity for tyranny." The commissioner, Pratolongo, was in doubt 



THE IMPRISONED PA TRIO TS. 489 

concerning the course to be pursued in regard to the prisoner, and 
sent again for orders; but, in the mean time, Mazzini was taken to 
the barracks of the carbineers in Piazza Sarzano, where he was 
examined by an old commissioner, who accused him of initiating a 
certain Major Cottin into the second rank of Cai'bonarism, giving the 
very hour and day. 

The prisoner remained in the barracks for some days, exposed to 
the witticisms and sneers of the carbineers — the most literary of 
whom presented him to the others as a new edition of "Jacopo 
Ortis" — and contriving to correspond with his friends through the 
help of a small pencil concealed in the food, which had been sent to 
him from home. He wrote upon his Hnen, and thus his mother, 
who washed it, heard from him. The sentences in their letters were 
so constructed that every alternate word furnished the key to the 
sentiment which they concealed. Through this channel Mazzini 
learned that Passano, Torre, Morelli, Doria, and others had been 
arrested ; but none of those whom he had initiated into the Carbonaii. 
One night he was taken by two carbineers to the fortress of Savona, 
on the Western Riviera. Before leaving the barracks, however, he 
obtained the privilege, after considerable persistence, of writing to 
his mother; and to his delight, when thrust out of the sedan chair 
into the carriage which was waiting on the suburbs of the city, he 
heard the voice of his father exhorting him to be of good cheer. At 
the same time his ardent friend, Agostino Ruffino, who stood near 
the conveyance, saluted him ; but without delay the prisoner was 
hurried away to the prison of St. Andrea, in front of which the 
carbineers halted, and from whence they brought Passano. He was 
placed in the carriage with Mazzini, who not only recognized him, 
but also one of the armed guards by his side, who was the unknown 
spy of the ''Lion Rouge." 

The two patriots were separated in the fortress of Savona, Maz- 
zini occupying a cell in the highest part, from which he beheld the 
sea. "The sea and sky," he wrote, "two symbols of the Infinite, 
and, except the Alps, the sublimest things in nature, were before me 
whenever I approached my little grated window." This view, and 
the voices of the fisherman, which the wind often wafted to him, 
greatly comforted the prisoner. During the first month he had no 
books, but fortunately for him a new governor, Cavalier Fontana, 
soon replaced De Mari, a tyrannical old man, and he obtained "a 
Bible, a Tacitus, and a Byron." During these months of imprison- 
ment he conceived the plan of the association of "Young Italy" 



490 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

{Da Giovina Italia). He was convinced that Carboftansm had no 
vitality, and declared tliat, instead of wasting time in the endeavor to 
''galvanize a corpse," he would expend his energy in establishing a 
living organization. 

A committee of senators at Turin investigated the charges against 
Mazzini ; and, as Major Cottin had stipulated when he consented to 
play the part of informer ['' Agcnte Provocatore''), that he was not to 
appear at the trial, the only witness was the carabineer, who had seen 
the accused in his room with a drawn sword in his hand. The expla- 
nations of Mazzini, however, counterbalanced the evidence against 
him, and he was acquitted by the senate. Venanson, the governor 
of Genoa, who was detested by the people, felt indignant at the 
result of the trial, and fearing that the liberated patriot would 
render to him **evil for evil," determined to prevent his return 
to his native city. Hence, Carlo Felice was importuned by the vin- 
dictive governor to prohibit Mazzini from residing in Genoa, Turin, 
or any other large city, or even any part of the Ligurian coast. 
The king, disregarding individual rights, the sentence of the judges, 
and the anguish of parental hearts, yielded to the demand of Venan- 
son, and informed the young republican hero that he could either 
select a place of residence in such interior towns as Asti, Acqui, or 
Casales, or be sent into exile for an indefinite period, the duration of 
which must depend upon the royal pleasure and his own conduct. 
He was not allowed to see any but his nearest relations, and, accord- 
ingly, his father went to Savona to escort him home. His fellow- 
prisoner, Passano, being a Corsican by birth, and having served as 
French consul at Ancona, had been released some time before this, 
because the monarchical governments in Italy at that period, while 
hating France in their hearts, desired to propitiate her in every way. 

The insurrection in the center of Italy had broken out a short 
time before the liberation of Mazzini, and the latter, while in 
Genoa, learned that the Italian exiles were crowding to the fron- 
tier, encouraged both by assistance given and the inducements pre- 
sented by the new government of France. He resolved to leave the 
country rather than remain in the smaller towns of Piedmont and be 
under the constant su7'z^eillance of the police. After parting from his 
family, and proceeding through Savoy, he passed over Mont Cenis to 
Geneva, where he met Sismondi, the historian of the Italian Repub- 
lics, whom he describes as "amiable, singularly modest, simple, and 
affable in his manner, and Italian at heart." Both he and his wife 
(Jessie Macintosh, a Scotch lady) kindly received the exile, and 



SISMONDI. 



491 



questioned him as to the state of things in Italy. Sismondi made 
inquiries concerning Manzoni, whose romance he admired above all 
his other works, and the few other writers whose works indicated the 
revival of intellectual life among the Italians. The historian deplored 
the tendency he observed in the people of Italy to follow the doc- 
trines of the eighteenth century; but explained it by the necessities 
of a state of struggle. He was not as liberal as Mazzini had ex- 
pected, evidently accepting the teachings of Cousin, Guizot, and 
Villemain, the leaders of the doctrinaire school, and had become 
imbued with federalism, which he preached as the ideal of political 
organization to the many Italian exiles who surrounded him, and 
drew their ideas and inspiration from his lips. It was apparent that 
none of them dreamed of the possibility or even the desirability of 
Italian unity. 

Sismondi introduced Mazzini to Pellegrino Rossi at the ** Lit- 
erary Club," and the latter directed the attention of the young pa- 
triot to a Lombard exile seated in the corner close to him, who 
seemed to be listening only to his words. This stranger or spy, 
Giacomo Ciani, condemned to death by Austria in 1821, then 
approached Mazzini and said to him in a whisper, that if he was 
desirous of action he should go to Lyons and make himself known 
to the Italians at the '' Caff^ della Fenice.'' Without delay he pro- 
ceeded to that city, and found many exiles, the greater number of 
whom were military men, and some of whom he had seen wandering 
in the streets of Genoa ten years- before, with all the bitterness of dis- 
appointment in their looks. Among these were Borso de Carminati, 
an officer of considerable promise, Carlo Bianco, Voarino, Tedeschi, 
Pisani, Fecchini, and General Regis, all of them Piedmontese and 
republicans. They had flocked to Lyons to join in an invasion of Sa- 
voy, then being organized by a special committee. The expedition 
already numbered two thousand Italians and many French workmen. 
They had an abundance of money, for nobles, princes, and men of all 
shades of opinion, belonging to the wealthier classes, had been in- 
duced to support the movement, because the French government was 
supposed to be favorable to it. The exiles made their preparations 
publicly ; the Italian tricolored flag was entwined with that of France 
in the *' Caffe della Fcnice ;' the depots of arms were known ; and the 
committee was in communication with the prefect of Lyons. 

The French government, however, soon changed its position, and 
there appeared a severe proclamation against the Italian enterprise, 
dated from the office of the prefect, ^commanding the exiles to dis- 



492 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

band, and threatening to punish, with the utmost rigor of the criminal 
law, any persons who should venture to compromise France with 
other governments by violating the frontiers of friendly powers. **I 
found the committee," says Mazzini, ** completely crushed and over- 
whelmed. The banners had all disappeared, and a great number of 
arms had been sequestrated. Old General Regis was in tears, and 
the other exiles were cursing both the betrayal and betrayer — the 
sterile vengeance reserved for those who, in their country's cause, 
put their trust in others rather than in themselves." The French 
authorities not only arrested the advance guard of the expedition 
which, embracing many Frenchmen, had been sent out toward Savoy, 
but also seized a large number of exiles, conveyed them handcuffed 
to Calais, whence they were embarked for England. In the midst 
of the confusion of imprisonment, flights, threats, and despair, Borso 
informed Mazzini that he and a few other republicans intended start- 
ing that night for Corsica, thence to carry arms and assistance to the 
insurgents in the center of Italy. Among the refugees in the dili- 
gence to Marseilles were Borso, Mazzini, Bianco, Voarino, Tedeschi, 
and Zuppo, a Neapolitan. Proceeding from Marseilles to Toulon, 
they went on board a merchant vessel of Naples, and after a very 
stormy voyage reached Bastia. Mazzini, who was delighted to stand 
upon Italian soil again, found the island ** truly Italian, not only in 
climate, scenery, and language, but in generous patriotism." He 
made a short tour over the central part of Corsica, in company with 
Antonio Benci, one of the Tuscan contributors to the ** Antologia," 
who had fled from threatened persecution to the island, and he found 
the people hostile to France and in sympathy with the insurrection 
then progressing in Italy. These rough but worthy mountaineers 
wxre armed, and expressed a desire to follow Mazzini and his com- 
panions as leaders to assist the insurgents in the Romagna. Neapoli- 
tan exiles first introduced Ca7'bonarisin into Corsica, and it soon be- 
came a ruling power throughout the island. A venerated leader among 
them was Galotti, who was given up to the tyrant of Naples by Charles 
X, of France, but who escaped to Corsica, where La Cecilia and 
several other refugees from Southern Italy had sought protection. 

Mazzini learned from these individuals the plan that was to be 
pursued, which was simply to cross to the Continent, and invade the 
center of Italy at the head of two or three thousand Corsicans, who 
were already armed and organized. But money was Avanting to hire 
vessels and to support the families of the poorer islanders ; and, 
though solemnly promised by ^ friend of the patriotic priest, Bonardi, 



CHARLES FELIX AND MAZZINL 493 

one of the disciples of Buonarroti, the needed funds never arrived. 
In consequence of these delays the expedition did not sail, but sud- 
denly collapsed, when the news arrived that Austrian intervention 
had restored the insurgent provinces to their former masters. Hav- 
ing exhausted his means, Mazzini left Corsica in March, 1831, and 
returned to Marseilles, where his uncle, in his parents' name, had 
urged him to come. There he resumed his design of founding the 
association of ''Young Italy." The exiles of Modena, Parma, 
and the Romagna flocked into Marseilles to the number of upwards 
of a thousand. During that year Mazzini became acquainted with 
Nicola Fabrizzi, Celeste Menotti, Gustavo Modena, L. A. Melegari, 
and other young, ardent patriots. He mentions in his writings 
Giuditta Sidoli, "a woman of rare purity of principle and firmness 
of mind," adding to this special tribute a general eulogy in these 
words: **They were all linked with me in the holiest of all friend- 
ships, a friendship sanctified by unity of virtuous aim, and which, 
with some among them — Nicola Fabrizzi, for instance — ripened into 
an affection, which has endured to the present day ; with others, as 
in the case of Lamberti, it was only interrupted by death. Towards 
none of them was it ever betrayed by me. I sketched forth the 
design and the rules of the association of 'Young Italy,' and sent 
word of my purpose to my friends in Genoa." 

In April, 1831, Charles Felix died, and his cousin Charles Albert 
ascended the Sardinian throne. He was inclined to pursue a liberal 
policy toward his people, and was even willing to grant them the 
same constitution he had given them as regent; but feared that such 
a step would involve him in a war with Austria, for which he did not 
believe his kingdom was prepared. Mazzini resolved to address a 
letter to the new sovereign. Before printing it, he read it to Gug- 
lielmo Libri, an eminent man of science, who praised it ; but opposed 
its publication on the ground that the perpetual banishment of the 
author would result from it. Disregarding this advice, Mazzini issued 
the letter, and sent a few copies from Marseilles to Italy, to such 
individuals as he knew by name in the various cities of the Sardinian 
states. Three or four clandestine reprints of it were soon made, and 
thus it quickly spread in all directions. Charles Albert received a 
copy and read it, and, shortly afterwards, a circular was sent by the 
government to the authorities at all the frontiers, instructing them to 
arrest and imprison Mazzini should he attempt to return to Italy. 
In this letter the king was reminded of the enthusiastic hopes awak- 
ened in the minds of the Italians by the accession of a prince who 



494 ITALY STRUGGLING IXTO LIGHT. 

had been a Carbo7iaro in 1821. His attention was then called to the 
universal dissatisfaction, and the hatred of Austria, existing in all 
the states of Italy, and the possibility of uniting them in the grand 
struggle for Italian independence, and he was exhorted to seek a 
"crown brighter and nobler than that of Piedmont — a crown that 
only awaits a man bold enough to conceive the idea of wearing it, 
resolute and determined enough to consecrate himself wholly to the 
realization of that idea, and virtuous enough not to dim its splendor 
with ignoble tyranny." 

The association of "Young Italy," founded by IMazzini, adopted 
as a symbol a sprig of cypress, in memory of those who had died in 
defense of its principles. Its motto, Ora e Senipre, " Now and For- 
ever, " indicated the determination of its members to persevere in their 
enterprise. Its banner, "composed of the three Italian colors, white, 
red, and green, bore on the one side the words Liberty, Equality, 
Humanity ; and on the other. Unity and Independence. The first 
indicated the international mission of Italy ; the second, the national. 
Committees were rapidly constituted in the principal cities of Tus- 
cany. In Genoa, the brothers Ruffini, Campanella, Benza, and a few 
other )-oung men, diligently labored to promote the interests of the 
association. IMazzini, Lamberti, Usiglio, Lustrini, G. B. Ruffini, and 
five or six others, mostly Modenese, worked day and night at Mar- 
seilles, writing articles and letters, seeing travelers, and affiliating 
Italian sailors. They smuggled their documents into Italy in pack- 
ages, barrels, and other merchandise, being assisted by French re- 
publicans and sailors of the Italian merchant navy. Among these 
friends were Lerici, and Ambrogio Giacopello. The association rap- 
idly spread from Genoa along the two Riviere, and even extended to 
the Neapohtan frontier. Clandestine presses were established in 
various parts of Italy to reproduce the writings of these radical 
republicans, and the supply was not equal to the demand. Unable 
to prevent the circulation of these papers in Italy, the authorities 
there resolved to silence the authors, and, accordingly, France was 
requested to banish them from her territory. The order was issued 
in August, 1832; but ]\Iazzini concealed himself, and conveyed the 
impression that he had departed. He continued the publication of 
the republican journal. Young Italy, employing French compositors, 
and secretly circulating the copies when printed. "And then began 
for me," says Mazzini, in 1861, "the life I have led for twenty 
years out of thirty — a life of voluntary imprisonment within the four 
walls of a little room." 



ARREST AND PUNISHMENT. 495 

By the middle of 1833 the organization of the "Young- Italy" 
had become very powerful, especially in Lombardy, the Genoese 
territory, Tuscany, and the States of the Church. The Tuscan center 
of the association was Leghorn, where Guerrazzi, Bini, and Enrico 
Mayer were exceedingly active. The branches of the associations in 
Pisa, Sienna, Lucca, and Florence were guided by them. Enrico 
Mayer went to Rome, where he was imprisoned upon suspicion ; but 
was soon released, and, proceeding to Marseilles, consulted with 
Mazzini. Among the zealous members of the association, in various 
cities of Italy, were Professor Paulo Corsini, Montanelli, Francesco, 
Cempini, Franchini, Enrico Montucci, Carlo Matteuci, Carlo Fenzi, 
and Mafifei. In Naples, Carlo Poerio, Bellini, Leopardi, and their 
friends had an independent organization, but animated by the same 
spirit that burned in "Young Italy." There was a committee in 
Rome, and another in Umbria, of which Guardabassi was chief. In 
Genoa, not only the youth, but the commercial class, and even many 
of the nobility, united with the new movement; among others, the 
brothers Mari, the Marquis Roveredo, the two Cambiasi, and Lorenzo 
Pareto, afterwards minister. In Piedmont the w^ork proceeded more 
slowly ; but even there many branches of the association had been 
organized, and among the active followers were the advocate Azario, 
Allegra, Sciandra, Romnaldro Cantara, Ranco, Moia, Barberis, Vo- 
chiero, Parola, Massino, d ' Ivrea, and Stara. 

Mazzini, believing that Sardinia was the most favorable locality in 
Italy for exciting a revolt against Austrian rule, resolved to occupy the 
two strategic points — Alessandria and Genoa, where the association 
was most numerous and powerful ; but the government, suspecting 
that incendiary documents were being circulated, was successful in 
discovering some of the publications of "Young Italy." All who 
had them in their possession were imprisoned, and were threatened 
with death if they refused to give the names of their accomplices. 
Some complied with this demand, and others confessed their own 
guilt without betraying their companions. The prisons were filled 
with the suspected, and their friends were also arrested. Many of 
the prisoners were treated in the most cruel manner, and every 
species of torture tried for the purpose of extorting a confession from 
them. A large number yielded ; others remained firm and were exe- 
cuted. Jacopo Ruffini tore a nail from the door of his prison, and, 
opening a vein in his neck, passed away from earth. He was a 
school-mate of Mazzini, who said that he was ' * a youth of the sweetest 
nature, the purest and most constant affections," he had ever known. 



496 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Some who were present declare that the trial of the prisoners was a 
mockery, being conducted hastily, without any regard to legal forms. 
Quring the months of May and June, 1833, ten or twelve subordi- 
nate officers of the army suffered the penalty of death. 

After the disastrous and tragic failure of "Young Italy," Mazzini 
retired to Geneva, in Switzerland, and organized another movement, 
which he called "Young Europe," his purpose being to unite the 
cause of Italy with that of the other oppressed nations, and raise the 
banner of European fraternity upon the Alps. He was assisted by 
several military men, among whom were Carlo Bianco, then residing 
at Nyon, and Gentilini Scovazzi. At the hotel where Mazzini made 
his headquarters were Agostini Rufifini, of Genoa ; Giambattista 
Ruffini, of Modena ; Celeste Menotti, Nicola Fabrizzi, Angelo Usilio, 
Giuseppi Lamberti, Gustavo Modena, Paolo Pallia, and others. The 
new enterprise also received aid from Giacomo Ciani, Gaspare Bel- 
credi, and Gaspare Rosales, and the command of it was given to 
General Ramorino, a native of Savoy, who had taken part in the 
Polish insurrection. Mazzini was not favorable to his appointment, 
but submitted to the wishes of others. 

On the 1st of February, 1834, the expedition started for St. 
Julien, for the purpose of invading Savoy. The government of 
Geneva, however, seized the boats and arrested all suspected parties ; 
but the population of the city arose in defense of the prisoners, and 
they were released. As they proceeded onward, the news of their 
coming reached St. Julien, and the Piedmontese leaders, seeing the 
impossibility of defending the place, had abandoned it. Ramorino, 
whose heart was really not in the movement, did not take advantage 
of the situation ; but divided his forces. In the mean time, Mazzini 
was taken sick, and became delirious with fever. Ramorino, on ascer- 
taining this fact, disbanded his troops, and thus ended the campaign. 
Many of the exiles were arrested and sent to England or America; 
but Mazzini, the two Rufifinis, and Melegari succeeded in escaping 
from Geneva, and after remaining for some time concealed in Lau- 
sanne, finally settled at Berne. While at Lausanne, Mazzini published 
a small pamphlet under the title, ''lis soiit Partis,'' treating of the 
persecutions of these two hundred exiles. Toward the end of 1834, 
he founded the association called " Young Switzerland," and in June, 
1835, commenced the publication of La Jewie Suisse, a bi-weekly 
journal. In 1836, he and his companions were exiled from Switzer- 
land by the diet, and, in January, 1837, went to London. 



DR. BAIRD'S OBSERVATIONS. 497 



Fourth Decade, Continued, 1830-1840. 



Chapter VI. 

THE WALDENSES— GREGORY XVI— GARIBALDI. 

IN addition to the large sum contributed in England, previous to 
1830, for the support of benevolent work among the Waldenses, 
Dr. Gilly received five thousand pounds from friends in that country 
to establish a college in the ** Valleys." To choose the site, and take 
the requisite measures for the accomplishment of this great object, 
he made a second visit to Piedmont in 1831. Returning home the 
same year, he published a second volume of his " Waldensian Re- 
searches," in which he gave the results of his observations at that 
time. This book, like the first, awakened a deep interest in behalf 
of the Vaudois. 

In the latter part of May, 1837, ^l^e Rev. Robert Baird, D. D., 
a prominent American clergyman and active philanthropist, visited 
the region inhabited by the Waldenses. He had been sent to Paris 
by the ''French Evangelical Association" of the United States to 
promote the interests of Protestant Christianity in France, and, also, 
as far as possible, in other countries on the Continent. Dr. Baird 
had brought letters from Rome and Naples to Count Walbourg 
Truchsess, then the embassador of Prussia at the court of Turin, and 
through him became acquainted with the Rev. A. Bert, chaplain of 
the Protestant embassies at that city. The latter accompanied Dr. 
Baird to the residence of his brother-in-law. Rev. Jean Pierre Bon- 
jour, whose parish of St. Jean was about thirty miles from Turin. 
Col. Beckwith was a guest of the family, and Dr. Baird records the 
delightful interview he enjoyed with the inmates. Madame Bonjour, 
an estimable and pious lady, had died a few months previous, leaving 
the bereaved husband sad and desolate. She was a daughter of the 
Rev. Mr. Bert, who, at the time of his death was moderator of the 
Waldensian Synod. Col. Beckwith and Dr. Baird visited, on foot, 
La Tour, and other interesting places in the ** Valleys." The lat- 
ter, in his work entitled ** Protestantism in Italy," refers to the favor- 
able impression made upon his mind by the simple, honest, and 
Christian appearance and demeanor of the inhabitants. Without an 



498 ITAL V ST7^ UGGLTNG INTO LIGHT. 

exception, he received kind salutations from men, women, and even 
children, among the Waldensian population ; but the Romanists sel- 
dom returned any thing more than a sullen look to his civil greeting 
of Bonjotir, or Bon soir, as the case might be. As an evidence of the 
industry of the Waldenses, the same writer states that the few beg- 
gars he saw in the "Valleys" were invariably Roman Catholics, who 
came there from the country around. 

"Nor were we able soon," says Dr. Baird, "to divest ourselves 
of the emotions of the preceding night. We felt that we were in a 
land where, if every rock and every ancient tree and every ancient 
house had a tongue, it could tell a tale such as none could hear 
unmoved. And never did we so fully see and feel the beauty and 
the force of the remark of the Roman orator: *We are moved, I 
know not how, by the very places where remain the footsteps of 
those whom we either love or admire. Even our Athens itself does 
not so delight me with its magnificent works, and its exquisite arts 
of the ancients, as by the remembrance of her great men, and the 
spots where each dwelt, sat, and disputed ; I contemplate with eager- 
ness even their very sepulchers. ' . . . There is hardly a spot on 
or near which an intelligent Waldensian pastor or laic even will not be 
able to relate to you some thrilling occurrence having taken place." 

While among the Waldenses, Dr. Baird observed their mode of 
worship. The regent or teacher of the chief parish school, which is 
always held in the village where the church of the parish stands, 
commences the service by reading two or three chapters from Oster- 
vald's French Bible, and also the practical observations at the end of 
each in the old folio edition of that excellent translation. After half 
an hour has been spent in that way, and when the people are well 
assembled, the pastor ascends the pulpit and commences with a short 
invocation of the divine blessing, according to the words of the lit- 
urgy used in the Waldensian Churches. He then invites the people 
to listen attentively to the Ten Commandments and the summary 
thereof given by Christ. The next exercise is the "confession of 
sins," which is the same that is found in the liturgies of the French 
and Swiss Churches. After the singing of a psalm, in which the 
whole congregation unite, a prayer of some length, either extempo- 
raneous or taken from the liturgy, is offered up. Then comes the 
sermon, which is followed by the singing of a psalm or hymn. The 
concluding prayer, to which are appended the Lord's Prayer and the 
Apostles' Creed, is selected from the liturgy, and is composed of 
petitions in behalf of their own Church, their poor and afflicted, the 



WALDENSIAN ORTHODOXY. 499 

Church universal, the king and royal family, and others in authority. 
The service is closed with the singing of a few verses of a psalm or 
hymn, and the Aaronic benediction. When the rite of baptism is to 
be performed it immediately follows the sermon. The minister, after 
a special prayer for the occasion, and an address to the parents or 
those who present the child, descends from the pulpit, places his 
hands together, into which some one pours water from a vial or 
small bottle, which he in turn pours upon the child, pronouncing at 
the same time its name and repeating the words of the institution : 
'*I baptize thee in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost." When the Lord's-supper is to be celebrated it likewise fol- 
lows the sermon in the forenoon, and, like the ordinance of baptism, 
is administered almost in the same form which the Presbyterian 
Churches every-where observe. 

Dr. Baird, in examining the historical records of the Waldenses, 
was impressed with the fact that the "Church of the Valleys" had 
in all ages maintained the true faith. At their synod, which met at 
Angrogna in September, A. D. 1535, the pastors or barbes adopted 
seventeen propositions which are eminently Protestant. Their pres- 
ent "Confession of Faith" was made A. D. 1655, when they ad- 
dressed their famous appeal to the Protestant Churches of Germany, 
Switzerland, England, the United Provinces, Denmark, Sweden, 
Poland, Bohemia, and other countries, in which they affirmed that 
their religious views were the same as those held by those orthodox 
bodies. The document, which contains the belief of the Waldensian 
Church, consists of thirty-three articles, and was drawn up with great 
ability by Leger and others, wdio passed through dreadful trials rather 
than deny the evangelical doctrines which they had embraced. In 
.1837 ^^- Baird found the Waldensian ministers true to their orthodox 
standards, and, instead of sending their students to the academy of 
Geneva, where rationalism reigned, they placed those who desired to. 
study in that city in the new theological school, then under the pres- 
idency of the distinguished Merle d'Aubigne. 

The benevolent work of Colonel Beckwith among the Waldenses 
excited the admiration of Dr. Baird, who beheld its glorious results. 
The noble English philanthropist was engaged in promoting the edu- 
cation of the youth by the establishment of village and hamlet schools 
throughout the "Valleys." He had already established about ninety, 
and hoped to increase the number to one hundred and fifty, which 
would secure the opportunity of gaining a good common education 
in the French language, which all spoke, to every child and youth 

33 



500 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

among the twenty-two thousand Waldensian people. At that time 
the fruits of the charitable efforts of Dr. Gilly and other English 
Christians were visible in the three or four female schools at as many 
different places in the ** Valleys." and also in the large and commo- 
dious college edifice, then in course of erection. Colonel Beckwith's 
labors in behalf of the Waldenses were appreciated, and no one was 
ever so highly esteemed by them. His portrait, lithographed at 
Paris, was almost the only ornament to be seen in many of their 
cottages. On one of the school-houses in the parish of St. Jean was 
this inscription : * * WJiocvcr passes this ivay let Jiitii bless the name of 
Colonel BeckwitJi.'' The affection of these hardy mountaineers for 
this humble and unostentatious Christian foreigner was deep and sin- 
cere. While English philanthropists, like Beckwith and Gilly, were 
laboring to educate the Waldenses, comparatively little was done by 
the Italian authorities to elevate the masses throughout the Peninsula. 
The condition of the country was truly lamentable. On the 2d of 
February, 1 83 1, three millions of Italians had a new master, whose 
name was Gregory XVI. Austria designated the man she wished to 
succeed Pius VIII in the papal chair, and the sacred college obeyed 
by selecting Cardinal Mauro Capellari. He was a monk of the Cam- 
adules and ignorant of public affairs. The political situation was not 
promising when he commenced his reign, and, filled with alarm, he 
threw himself into the arms of Cardinal Bernetti. The Roman people 
suffered innumerable evils. Three millions of citizens were enfeoffed 
to some thousands of priests or persons under the mask of ecclesias- 
tical garments, who absorbed for themselves alone fifty-five millions 
of dollars. All the honors, all the offices, the whole of the author- 
ity and nine-tenths of the property of the state were in the hands of 
the clergy. The supporters of this class were a band of assassins 
called sanfedistes, six thousand Swiss, and a few regiments of national 
soldiers, despised, in rags, and badly disciplined. Besides this there 
was no commerce and no industry. The smugglers organized like 
a regular government, with its bankers, its depots, its chiefs, its army, 
its correspondents, its docks, stronger than the legal government, 
more beloved, always ready to give battle to the clerical agents and 
feared by the latter when they were not accomplices. 

Agriculture was neglected, statistics were not given, and no effort 
made to sustain a regular and normal administration. Insupportable 
taxes badly laid and distributed were charged almost entirely upon 
laymen, and excited discontent, especially in the Marches and Umbria. 
Innumerable obstacles were opposed to the development of the pub- 



POPE GREGORY XVI. 501 

lie wealth, particularl}^ on account of the repulsion which the priests 
had for railroads, and on account of the preservation of the property 
in mortmain and the conversion of large personal properties into real 
estate by a legal fiction. There existed no codes and no equality 
before the law, but the clergy enjoyed numerous privileges and 
immunities. The administration of justice was intricate, slow, and 
uncertain, and the priests were the controlling spirits. The people 
groaned t^eneath a public debt of eighty millions of crowns, of which 
Pope Gregory XVI alone was responsible for twenty-seven millions, 
which he had extravagantly spent. There was an enormous deficit 
every year, but no account of the administration of the public finan- 
ces was rendered and no budget agreed upon. The darkest feature 
of Gregory's reign, however, was the want of a general system of 
instruction, and the Jesuits directed the whole course of private 
education. 

The pontificate of Gregory XVI was not marked by any great 
events. The prince de Metternich disliked Cardinal Bernetti, and 
urged the pope to dismiss him. In 1836 he was forced to resign, 
and Cardinal Lambruschini became the papal prime minister or secre- 
tary of state. Like Gregory XVI, he was also a monk. He was 
tall in stature, haughty in manner, and well adapted to shine in diplo- 
matic circles. He understood men, business, and the proprieties of 
life; he was not a stranger to the intrigues of the court of Europe; 
he was initiated into the principles of the ''Holy Alliance," and gave 
to them the consecration of the papacy. Legitimacy was his national 
religion, and France his dclenda CartJiago est. In choosing this secre- 
tary of state, Gregory XVI believed that he was ridding himself of 
a master, but he soon found himself in the hands of a tyrant. 

While Italy was thus crushed, and the hour of her deliverance 
appeared to be far in the future, the men who were destined to be 
her liberators were then in comparative obscurity. Cavour cultivated 
his farm, Gavazzi occupied a professor's chair, and Garibaldi was a 
sailor. The latter at this period (1832) became deeply interested in 
the welfare of his country. -"Being an ardent lover of Italy from 
my childhood," he says, "I felt a strong desire to become initiated 
in the mysteries of her restoration, and I sought ever}'-where for 
books and writings which might enlighten me on the subject, and for 
persons animated with feelings corresponding with my own. On a 
voyage which I made to Tagangog, in Russia, with a young Ligurian, 
I was first made acquainted with a few things connected with the 
intentions and plans of the Italian patriots." As the result of his 



502 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

entire devotion to the cause of Italy he was proscribed, and on the 
5th of February, 1834, at seven o'clock in the evening, passed out 
of the gate of Linterna, at Genoa, in the disguise of a peasant. A 
few days afterwards he saw his name for the first time in a newspaper 
containing his death sentence. 

Proceeding to Marseilles, Garibaldi remained there several months, 
and then made another voyage to the Black Sea. He resolved to 
visit the Italian colony in South America, and accordingly sailed for 
Rio Janeiro. In that city he met Rosetti, with whom he engaged in 
business. From Zambeccari, a prisoner sent from Rio Grande, Gar- 
ibaldi learned that the Italians there had declared for independence. 
With a few companions he sailed in a small vessel, which he named 
TJie Mazziniy and thus commenced that remarkable military career 
of thirteen years' duration in South America, which for daring, brav- 
ery, and hardships has few parallels in history. While fighting for 
the ** Republic of Rio Grande" he was conquered by the beautiful 
Anna, who became the partner of his sorrows and joys, and was truly 
the inspiration of his life. 



FIFTH DECADE, 1840-1850. 



Chapter VII. 

MAZZINI IN EXILE— THE BANDIERAS. 

DURING the former part of this decade Italy enjoyed compara- 
tive exemption from political commotion. Mazzini was in 
England, struggling with poverty, and only able to support himself 
by the aid of literature. He made some acquaintances, and became 
a contributor to several reviews, receiving a small compensation, 
which, with the help of his own modest allowance, enabled him to 
meet his daily expenses. Either by choosing Italian subjects, or by 
frequent allusions to Italian matters, he directed the attention of the 
English people to the national question in his beloved country. 
Though some of his ideas appeared impracticable, and even danger- 
ous to many English minds, yet the sincerity of his convictions, 
demonstrated by his life, gained him the friendship of a large num- 
ber of the best residents. "Nor shall I ever forget while I live," 



FOSCOLO'S "DANTEr , 503 

he wrote, *'nor ever pronounce without a throb of gratitude, the name 
of the land wherein I now write, which became to me ahnost as a 
second country, and in which I found the lasting consolation of affec- 
tion in a life embittered by delusions and destitute of all joy." He 
expressed his warmest thanks to many kind families, whose ministries 
of benevolence almost made him forget at times that he was an exile. 

Mazzini had long cherished the desire of extending the fame of 
Ugo Foscolo, a writer, in his opinion, who, with the single exception 
of Alfieri, had contributed more than any other to that manly vigor 
which Italian literature had manifested during the preceding sixty 
years. He declared that, while the majority of authors in Italy 
wrote in the name of princes, patrons, or academies, Foscolo taught 
a higher and nobler view of art, and inculcated devotion to the great 
idea of patriotism. Mazzini, after becoming acquainted with the 
literary men of England, and feeling a new stimulus from the articles 
which he had written upon the intellectual movement in his native 
land, resolved to collect the literary productions of the great author. 
The latter, while in exile, had commenced many works, which were 
only partially completed, and others, owing to the poverty and isola- 
tion in which he hved, had been lost. After a long and almost 
fruitless search Mazzini found — besides several letters to Edgar Tay- 
lor — all that Foscolo had finished of his work upon the great poem 
of Dante, and the proof-sheets of about two-thirds of the "Lettera 
Apologetica," at that time quite unknown in Italy. The discovery 
of the latter manuscript filled Mazzini with real joy. The pages, 
without any title, and without the author's name, had been thrown 
aside with several torn papers, destined to be destroyed, in a room 
at the house of Pickering, a London publisher. 

The Genoese patriot, when he found these important papers, ex- 
pressed surprise that not one among the many Italians residing in 
London or visiting it for amusement had ever sought for them, and 
that the honor of restoring them to Italy, at least eleven years after 
Foscolo's death, should have been left to another exile in poverty. 
If diligent effort had been made earlier all of these valuable writings 
might probably have been saved ; and Mazzini asserted that this neg- 
lect is **one among many proofs of the indifference and ingratitude 
which are the common vices of enslaved, peoples." The publisher, 
who had formerly despised these works because ignorant of their 
value, became exacting when he saw the eagerness of the discoverer, 
and refused to part with them unless the latter would also purchase 
the work on the text of Dante, for which he demanded four hundred 



\ 



504 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

pounds. Mazzini, to use his own expression, ** could not at that 
time have answered for four hundred pence," and therefore wrote to 
Quirina Magiotti, "an exceptional woman and exceptional friend," 
asking" help to redeem these relics of one whom she had loved and 
esteemed beyond all others. This lady responded favorably to the 
appeal ; but the bookseller still persisted in not selling the one work 
without the other, and she regretted her inability to purchase both. 
After many useless attempts, Mazzini succeeded at last in persuading 
Pietro Rolandi, an Italian publisher settled in London, to pay the 
sum demanded and assume the expenses of the edition. It w^as 
strange that a man ''prudent and timid, both from necessity and 
habit," should be induced to undertake such a literary enterprise. 
Though *'at heart more tender of his country's glory than book- 
sellers generally are," and united to Mazzini by strong friendship, 
yet the latter was astonished at his influence over Rolandi. 

In a short time afterwards the very pages which were needed to 
complete the book were found in a trunk full of papers belonging to 
Foscolo, and saved from dispersion by the Canon Riego — the only 
man who watched by the bedside of the exile during his last illness — 
which subsequently came into the possession of Enrico Mayer and 
other friends at Leghorn, but had never been examined. The dis- 
covery of these last fragments awakened an energy in all of them, 
which resulted in giving to Italy, first, the volume of the political 
writings of Foscolo, which Mazzini published at Lugano, and then 
the Florentine edition, directed with *' I'intelletto d'amore," by Or- 
landini. Believing that a biography of the distinguished author 
should be written, Mazzini commenced the pleasant task, but was 
prevented by adverse circumstances and many cares from completing 
it. He expressed the opinion that Nicolini was the most competent 
to do it ; but the latter subsequently died, and his own life is still 
unwritten. Owing to stress of poverty and illness Foscolo had only 
completed the first part of his undertaking, "L' Inferno ;" and Maz- 
zini, finding that the publisher, Pickering, would sell all or none, 
determined to complete the "Purgatory" and "Paradise." 

In the Summer of 1844 Mazzini, discovering that his correspond- 
ence had been tampered with in London, placed the evidence which 
he had accumulated in the hands of a member of parliament, and 
petitioned the House for an inquiry into the matter. The accusation 
produced great excitement, and, the London Times having cast re- 
flections upon the Italian patriot, Mr. Thomas Carlyle published in 
that paper a letter defending his character. The following extract 



THE BANDIERAS. 505 

indicates its spirit: *'I have had the honor to know M. Mazzini for 
a series of years ; and, whatever I may think of his practical insight 
and skill in worldly affairs, I can with great freedom testify to all 
men that he, if ever I have seen one such, is a man of genius and 
virtue, a man of sterling veracity, humanity, and nobleness of mind, 
one of those rare men, numerable, unfortunately, but as units in this 
world, who are worthy to be called martyr-souls ; who in silence, 
piously in their daily life, understand and practice what is meant by 
that." Many of the letters addressed to Mazzini, and which when 
opened were found to contain some views relative to the proposed 
expedition of the brothers Bandiera, were copied and sent to the 
governments of Naples and Austria. 

The brothers Bandiera, who corresponded with Mazzini at that 
time, were born at Venice. They were the sons of Baron Bandiera, 
rear-admiral of the Austrian navy, so unfavorably known to Italy for 
having violated the articles of the capitulation of Ancona in 1 831, 
and captured the insurgents on their way to France by sea. From 
their earliest years the brothers had dreamed of the national unity of 
Italy; and long before they were able to obtain any contact with 
Italian exiles, or the republican leaders in the center of the Peninsula, 
they had themselves endeavored to prepare the way for the realiza- 
tion of their idea. Toward the close of 1842 Attilio, the elder of 
the two brothers, wrote to Mazzini under an assumed name, express- 
ing his esteem and love for him ' ' as chief of those who represent in 
our generation the national opposition to the tyranny and consequent 
infamy that now contaminates Italy." In the letter he refers to 
Mazzini as the founder of the secret society called "Young Italy," 
and also as the editor of a journal bearing the same title, but declares 
that he had not, until a few days previous, seen any of that patriot's 
Avorks. Attilio further states that the first and second numbers of 
the "Apostolato Popolare " were doubly welcome to him, because 
to the gratification he received in finding his own political principles 
shared by a man like Mazzini was added the satisfaction of discover- 
ing a means, however indirect, of forwarding a letter to him, after a 
year's earnest effort to learn his address. The bearer of the letter 
to London was Domenico Moro, a native of Venice, and lieutenant 
of the Adria. Attilio and his brother Emilio worked secretly, care- 
fully preparing their expedition; but about the ist of March, 1843, 
they learned that a certain Micciarelli had betrayed their plans. 
Attilio resolved to escape, and before starting sent word of his inten- 
tion to Emilio, then at Venice. The latter sought refuge in Corfu, 



506 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

and Avrote to Mazzini, on the 2 2d of April, that the Archduke 
Rainieri, vice-regent of the Lombardo-Venetian provinces, had sent 
an agent to his mother, promising that if she could persuade her son 
to return to Venice a pardon would be secured for him. The devoted 
mother visited him, and endeavored to move him by entreaties, and 
even tears, but he decided to remain. 

The Austrian government now declared the brothers Bandiera 
guilty of high treason "for having joined the sect of 'Young Italy,'" 
and they were cited to appear within the space of ninety days before 
the imperial tribunals at Venice. They replied, through the medium 
of the public journals, that they gloried in what the authorities called 
"high treason," and, as death was certain, they preferred to meet it 
in any shape rather than under the infamous banner of Austria. At 
this time Domenico Moro, then only twenty-two years of age, volun- 
tarily became an exile by uniting with the brave brothers. He is 
represented as having a fine personal appearance and a truly angelic 
disposition. Attilio, after visiting Syra, Malta, and other places, 
went to Corfu on the 8th of May, 1843, and in a letter written to 
Mazzini a few days subsequently, stated that their band proposed to 
enter Calabria, and that he and Emilio had sold at ruinous prices 
the few things which they had brought with them, receiving only 
five hundred francs. As they needed at least three thousand, Attilio 
wrote to Nicola Fabrizi for that amount, which Mazzini had depos- 
ited in his hands for the use of the Bandieras. Instead of complying 
with the request, Fabrizi endeavored to persuade them to defer their 
expedition until a powerful force could be organized, and in this 
effort he was seconded by Mazzini. The latter received a letter from 
Attilio, on the 21st of May, in which he declared that the attempt 
they had intended to make during that month was rendered impossi- 
ble for the want of money. "Do not imagine, however," he wrote, 
"that poverty can alter us in any way. . . . Whatever our 
fate, we hope to leave the young generation an example of undying 
perseverance." 

Meanwhile the general discontent increased, and the popular 
excitement, which seemed to subside in 1843 manifested itself in a 
still more threatening manner in 1844, extending from the center to 
the south of the Peninsula. An armed emciite occurred at Cosenza, 
which, though soon put down, produced much agitation, and awak- 
ened a strong desire for action. Sicily, burdened so long by misgov- 
ernment and extortion, was anxious to revolt ; but certain parties 
advocated delay, and the brave Sicilians were restrained. While 



THE MARTYRS OF COSENZA. 507 

letters were passing between Fabrizi at Malta and the brothers Ban- 
diera at Corfu, relative to the enterprise already mentioned, Ricciotti, 
a friend of Mazzini since 183 1, departed from London and, early in 
June, joined the Bandieras. He was born in 1800, at Frosinone, in 
the papal states, and, when only eighteen years of age, the national 
Italian idea had taken such full possession of his mind that he swore 
to devote his life to its realization. In 1835, seeing no present prob- 
ability of redemption for Italy, he resolved to acquire military expe- 
rience in Spain, saying in a letter to his children, '*I shall once more 
combat in the cause of liberty, and, should fortune favor me, I may 
yet live to put the knowledge I acquire to profit for my country." 

On the night of the 12th of June, the Bandieras, Ricciotti, and 
twenty others started for Calabria, and soon arrived there in safety. 
But a force five times greater than theirs was sent to capture them, 
and, though they fought bravely, the insurgents were compelled to 
surrender. The prisoners were dragged before a military commission, 
and nine of them, including the Bandieras, Domenico Moro, and 
Nicola Ricciotti were condemned to be shot. One who was present 
at their execution, on the 25th of July, 1844, at Cosenza, speaks of 
them as saints, calm and intrepid, like the martyrs of the first ages 
of Christianity. On the morning of their execution they Avere found 
asleep, but rising from their humble beds they arranged their toilet 
carefully, as if they were about to accomplish an act of religious 
solemnity. They gently repulsed a priest who approached them, and 
said to him, that having endeavored "to practice the law of the Gos- 
pel, and to propagate it even at the cost of their blood among those 
emancipated by Jesus, they hoped more from their own good inten- 
tions than his words." ** Reserve them," added one of the prison- 
ers, ''for your oppressed brethren, and teach them to be what the 
cross has made them, free and equal." They walked to the place 
of execution conversing together without agitation, without ostenta- 
tion. ''Spare the face," said they to the soldiers, "it was made in 
the image of God. Vive r Italia T This was their last cry on earth. 

"The martyrs of Cosenza," says Mazzini, "have taught us that 
man is bound to live and die for the faith that is in him ; they have 
proved to the world that Italians know how to die ; they have strength- 
ened in Europe the conviction that Italy is destined to exist. The 
faith, for which such men seek death as eagerly as the lover seeks his 
betrothed, is neither the frenzy of culpable agitators nor the dream 
of deluded men ; it is the germ of a religion, a providential decree. 
And from the fire of patriotism that emanates from their sepulcher, 



508 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

the angel of Italy will one day kindle the torch with which Rome, 
not as the false prophets tell us, the Rome of the popes, the great- 
ness of which is extinguished forever, but the Rome of the people, 
shall, for the third time, illumine the path of progress to be fol- 
lowed by all humanity." 



Fifth Decade, Continued, 1840-1850. 



Chapter VIII. 

CAMILLO CAVOUR—THE CRISIS IN ITALY. 

CAMILLO CAVOUR, whether wandering over his farm in the 
district of Vercelli or enlivening with his sparkling conversa- 
tion the salon of his aunt, the duchess of Clermont-Tonnere at Turin, 
or discussing European affairs with the learned circles in Geneva, was 
closely observing the progress of events in his own country. While 
visiting London and Paris he studied the institutions of England and 
France, and derived from them valuable lessons. His models of 
statesmen were Pitt, Canning, and Robert Peel, and it was thus at 
the moment when the period of reforms opened for Italy, that *'the 
obscure citizen of Piedmont" found himself armed for public life. 
At the close of 1847 he established a journal, The Risoi'gimiento , to 
promote and regulate the national movement which Charles Albert 
had stimulated by his concessions. 

One day, early in 1848, Genoa, that center of keen and bitter 
passions, was the scene of tumult, resulting from the excited state 
of the public mind, A deputation had been sent to Turin to de- 
mand from King Charles Albert the expulsion of the Jesuits and the 
institution of a national guard. The liberal section at Turin favored 
the request of the Genoese deputation. Cavour instantly perceived 
that such a radical policy would not secure the proposed reforms, 
because the adoption of rigorous measures against the Jesuits might 
wound the religious sentiments of the king, and the establishment 
of a national guard would only provoke trouble^ and sedition so long 
as a legal representation of the whole people was wanting. Hence, he 
resolved to claim a constitution, and thus directly accomplish, without 
discord, what was demanded in the Genoese petition. While Ca- 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1848. 509 

vour's plan was more daring, it was also more politic, because it 
would flatter the pride and secret ambition of the prince, whom the 
constitution would elect the chief of Liberal Italy. It was a curious 
circumstance that those who most warmly opposed Cavour, and 
refused to follow his suggestions, were extreme liberals, men of the 
democratic party, Valerio and Sineo, who were suspicious of his 
leaning to English institutions, and ironically called him "My Lord 
Camillo. " From that time arose the question between the constitu- 
tional policy and revolutionary policy. 

Soon after this every thing was strangely changed, and there was 
no question of ^he constitution wrested from the vacillations of 
Charles Albert. The revolution of the 24th of February had recently 
burst forth, every-where kindling incendiary fires in Italy and in Ger- 
many — at Vienna as well as at Berlin. As already stated, Sicily was 
in a state of insurrection ; Milan had expelled the Germans at the 
close of a five days' struggle ; while, at the same time, Venice was 
securing her own freedom. The Austrian dominion, weakened in the 
heart of the empire by the Viennese revolution, had barely a hold 
even in its fortresses of the Adige. During the progress of these 
events impassioned appeals were heard in Turin. Cavour was among 
the first to utter the decisive word. On the breaking out of the 
revolution in Lombardy he already saw, with prophetic eye, the 
grand and noble edifice of Italian unity rising under the constitutional 
scepter of the house of Savoy; and, on the 23d of March, 1848, he 
addressed a bold and stirring appeal to the Piedmontese government, 
which sounded out amidst the storm like the blast of a bugle. 

"The supreme hour for the Savoyard monarchy has struck," he 
wrote, "the hour for bold deliberations, the hour upon which de- 
pends the fate of empires and the destinies of nations. In view 
of the startling events occurring in Lombardy and Vienna hesita- 
tion, doubt, delay are no longer possible ; they would prove the most 
disastrous of policies. Men of cool judgment, accustomed to listen 
much more to the dictates of reason than the impulses of passion, 
after having pondered well our every word, we are in duty bound to 
declare there is no alternative for the nation, for the government, for 
the king, but war — war without hesitation and without delay." The 
result justified the declaration of Cavour ; for, shortly after, Carlo 
Alberto formally declared war against Austria. 

On the 1st of May, 1848, the Sub- Alpine parliament was convoked 
for the first time. Cavour, who was elected as the representative 
of the first electoral college of Turin, delivered his maiden speech on 



5 10 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

the 4th of July following, upon the occasion of the proposed union 
of Lombardy with Piedmont. **We must not forget," he exclaimed, 
**that, while we are talking and debating, our brethren are fighting, 
and that they have the same rights that we have in the formation of 
of the Constitutional Assembly, which is to decide the destinies 
of Italy." On the announcement of the defeat of Custozza, Cavour 
hastened to enroll himself as a volunteer; but the armistice of Milan 
prevented his departure for the theater of war. He accordingly 
resumed his seat in parliament, where he ably defended the Perrone- 
Pinelli ministry, which, having accepted the mediation of England 
and France in obtaining an honorable peace from Austria, was 
fiercely assailed by the opposition, who were impelled by their prin- 
ciples to wish a continuation of the war. 

The sudden and, perhaps, inevitable crisis which arose in Italy in 
March, 1848, was not then fully understood; but it was, nevertheless, 
the most perilous of trials, and has since been a lesson to a whole 
generation. Men like Cavour, though opposed to a rash policy, did 
not deem it their duty to draw back. Circumstances seemed, no 
doubt, at first to warrant audacity, and fortune apparently smiled on 
Italy. The army of Radetsky had been driven back from Milan and 
from Lombard}', and compelled to shut itself up in Verona, in the midst 
of a circle of fire, and had evidently reached its last defense, because, 
being almost deserted by Vienna, it could not maintain the Austrian 
dominion beyond the Alps. On the other hand, the Piedmontese 
army, crossing the Ticino under the command of Charles Albert, 
could have soon occupied the lines of the Mincio and the Adige. For 
four months it fought bravely, and a day came, that of the taking of 
Peschiera and the victory at Goito, when the cause of Italian inde- 
pendence seemed almost w^on. "It was, in reality," says De Ma- 
zade, **a grand undertaking, badly begun, and rendered complex by 
inexperience of every sort, as well as by every passion and every 
illusion which could lead it t^ a fatal termination." One of the dan- 
gers that threatened it was external circumstances. The war of 1848, 
w4iich broke out thus unexpectedly, and with so little preparation, 
was intimately connected with a wide -set revolutionary situation, 
with a European convulsion. Hence, to a certain extent, every 
thing beyond the Alps depended upon what occurred in Europe — 
upon the reactions which might and which inevitably must ensue. 
At the commencement of the campaign, the chances of success 
were no doubt real, but they diminished in proportion as events 
developed. 



CONDITION OF EUR OPE. 5 1 1 

After the da3's of June, France was completely absorbed in her 
own internal affairs. She had thought of intervention when she 
gathered together the army of the Alps ; but finally concluded to act 
as a mediator, though she adopted an evasive and lingering policy. 
England, an ally in this mediation, desired agitations to cease, be- 
cause they threatened the peace of Europe, established in 181 5. 
Revolutionary Germany, while expressing her disinclination in par- 
liament, at Frankfort, also openly pointed to the fortresses of the 
Adige as being the outworks of her natural frontiers. Austria, 
though convulsed for a moment, had time to consider the situation, 
and, by the assistance of her generals at Prague and at Vienna to re- 
cover herself; and from the heart of the empire the poets sent forth 
to Radetsky, to that ancient warrior of Italy, the sympathetic war- 
cry, "Austria is in your camp!" Every thing had changed in a few 
montlis, so that, before the Autumn of 1848, Piedmont, driven back 
from the Mincio to the Ticino, was compelled to submit to the 
humiliating armistice of the i6th of August, and, without any sup- 
port, resisted a strengthened and victorious Austria. There was no 
hope of assistance from Europe, and no inducement to recommence 
hostilities with an army disorganized by defeat, and already powerless 
to restrain the passions that urged it to renew the conflict. The 
raging of these violent passions beneath the surface in Italy hastened 
the overthrow of the national cause. While the army was bravely 
fighting at Pasrengo, Goito, Curtatone, and Vicenza, a combination 
of circumstances seemed to conspire against her. The princes, full 
of misgivings and alarm, refused their alliance ; the pope, by the 
Encyclical of the 29th of April, disavowed the war of independence ; 
and King Ferdinand, of Naples, was engaging on the 15th of May 
in a victorious battle of internal repression, which ultimately made 
the Neapolitan policy one of extreme reactionary measures. 

Not only the ministry, but the monarchy itself, was in imminent 
peril. The star of democracy was now in the ascendant. Mazzini 
had proclaimed the advent of the universal republic. Pius IX, who 
had precipitated a revolution he did not wish, and could not control, 
was conspiring at Gaeta against the new-born liberties of the people ; 
Austria, supported by Germany and Russia, triumphant and defiant, 
with one hundred thousand soldiers in Lombardy ; France declining aid, 
and England counseling delay. In a word, the Piedmontese govern- 
ment, without a friend or ally abroad, and with an unpopular ministry 
at home, was compelled to advance against this powerful opposition. 

Cavour defended the administration so earnestly and boldly that 



5 1 2 ITAL V 577? UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

a storm of popular abuse soon descended upon him. He had com- 
menced his career in parHament distrusted by the aristocratic party, to 
whom he was related by ties of birth and friendship, on account of his 
liberal proclivities, while he was repudiated by the democrats, on 
account of his moderation. Seated upon the benches of the right 
center, he opposed every motion proceeding from the extreme right 
or left, looking to reaction on the one hand, or revolution on the 
other. He thus became a target for the sharp-shooters of both the 
political parties. He was characterized as a lukewarm friend of Ital- 
ian independence and unity, concealing his despotic tendencies under 
a liberal mask. He was accused of being a blind admirer of Eng- 
land, and in derision of his so-called Anglomania, was called "Lord 
Camillo, " or, '' Milord Risorginicnto.'' While the utterances of the ora- 
tors of the opposition were greeted with general and prolonged ap- 
plause, amidst shouts of ** Bravo! Bene!" the voice of Cavour was 
oftentimes drowned by the interruptions of the opposition, and the 
hisses of the galleries, which found an echo outside the chamber, in 
the calumnies of the press, and the jeers of the populace. On one 
occasion, wdien the storm was at its height, he resolutely opposed 
the tide of turbulent passions, and exclaimed, "Whoever interrupts 
me does not insult me, but the Chamber, and the insult I divide with 
all of my colleagues." 

The reverses of the Piedmontese army became the signal for an 
extensive and disastrous anarchy, which manifested itself successively 
at Milan, in scenes which imperiled the life of Charles Albart ; at 
Rome, in the murder of Rossi, the flight of the pope, and the proc- 
lamation of Mazzini's republic ; at Florence, in the flight of the grand 
duke. While Piedmont was protected * * by solid traditions, by a 
national dynasty, and by the 'statuto, ' or royal decree, recently pro- 
mulgated," it did not escape the universal contagion of strife and 
anarchy. The democratic party of the Ratazzis, the Valerios, the 
Ravinas, the Brofferias, did not have a majority in the newly opened 
parliament; yet it was powerful enough to perplex the military and 
political action of the government by its inconsistent propositions 
and its incoherent declamations, supported by the clubs and an 
intemperate press. At Turin that party represented the advocates 
of popular insurrections and the wildest of combinations ; it was the 
ally of all the agitators of Italy, the accomplice of a turbulent dem- 
ocracy whose motto was "war to the knife." 

In this feverish and dramatic manner public life was inaugurated 
in Piedmont, and Cavour, undismayed in the midst of these disturb- 



CAVOUR'S POLICY. 513 

ances, fought in the front ranks, both as deputy from Turin to par- 
liament, and in his capacity of editor of The RisoTgimicnto . He was 
a patriot and a constitutionahst before the ''statuto," and before 
the war, and during the struggle he was opposed to revolutionary 
measures, showing himself to be the most liberal and reasonable of 
men. Some desired to bribe the union of Lombardy and of Pied- 
mont with the simulacrum of a constituent assembly; but he strenu- 
ously opposed it, and urged the necessity for immediate amalgamation. 
To those who advocated the establishment of a sliding scale of taxa- 
tion, he replied, with the discernment of an experienced financier, a 
political economist, and a man of business. Some were ever talking 
of recommencing hostilities with a disorganized army, and depending 
upon the assistance of England and of France; but he advised differ- 
ently, and exhibited the sagacity of a politician who understood the 
affairs of Europe. Cavour did not fear the conflict; but, in the midst 
of warring factions, resolutely stood by the government. He main- 
tained a wonderful composure of mind, even when the wild tempest 
of conflicting passions was at its height. At first he was not distin- 
guished as an orator ; but had that self-possession and imperturbable 
coolness which made him master of the situation. Frank, simple, 
and moderate, he was eager to encounter those who believed only in 
"revolutionary means," without taking nature, reality, and expe- 
rience into account. 

Cavour, in accordance with his political creed, that revolutions, to 
be permanent, must be in harmony with natural laws, assailed these 
Utopian reformers with his merciless common sense and irony, and 
accused them of being independent of every law whatever, whether 
human or divine. Equally bold and daring as these ultra-revolution- 
ists, he had a more profound respect for humanity, and a greater faith 
in the triumph of principles. While he was not satisfied with any 
thing less than the possible, he never aimed at the impracticable. 
He resolutely advanced in the path of progress, and was not one of 
those timid reformers ''who are always waiting until the people 
become mature before conceding to them the very institutions which 
are precisely adapted to mature them." Nor did he belong to that 
impracticable school of politicians who affect to believe that a legis- 
lative act can create value ; that a law of political economy can be 
annulled by a parliamentary majority, or a permanent revolution be 
achieved by a proclamation or a coup d'etat. Referring to the 
French revolutionists, in The Risorgimiento of the i6th of November, 
1848, Cavour directly attacked the shibboleth of the extreme party, 



514 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

thus characterized their insane pohcy, and with singular precision 
prophesies its final result : 

''This iniquitous and ignorant faction finds itself confronted by 
science, affection, the individual, the family — every fundamental law 
of human society. . . . What does it signify? It has implicit 
faith in revolutionary measures, is certain of victory, and enacts the 
24th of June. French blood flows in torrents. France, upon the 
brink of an abyss, arouses herself, and hastens to suppress the fool- 
hardy attempt. What has been the result? We were looking for a 
democratic and social republic ; we were in possession of the germs 
of many ideas which, if developed by peaceful and ordinary means, 
would probably have resulted in some new advance in political sci- 
ence; and, instead, w^e have Paris under martial law; in Piedmont, a 
dubious and dilatory intervention ; at Naples, a shameful intimacy 
between the French envoy and the Bourbon tyrant. . . . What 
is it which has always wrecked the finest and justest of revolutions? 
The mania for revolutionary means ; the men who have attempted to 
emancipate themselves from ordinary laws; . . . the French 
Constituent Assembly creating the assignats in contempt of nature 
and economic laws: revolutionary means, productive of discredit and 
of ruin ! The Convention attempting to smother in blood the resist- 
ance to its ambitious project; 7'evolutio7iary 7neans producing the 
Directory, the Consulate, and the Empire; Napoleon bending all to 
his caprice, imagining * that one can with a like facility conquer at 
the bridge of Lodi and wipe out a law of nature;' revohUionary means , 
leading to Waterloo and St. Helena! the sectarians of June striving 
to impose the democratic and social republic by fire and sword; 
revolutionary means, producing the siege of Paris, and reaction every- 
where. W^ait but a little longer, and you will see the last consequence 
of your revolutionary means — Louis Napoleon on the throne." 

In the elections for January, 1849, Cavour was not returned to 
parliament. No longer a deputy he was still a journalist. He waged 
war all the same upon the extremists of both parties, but especially 
upon the ultra-republicans, whose only idea of democracy seemed 
embodied in the violence and excesses of the French revolution. 
But neither Cavour, nor his friends in parliament nor of the press, 
could, situated as they were, in the center of a circle of criticism and 
opposition, improvise moderate views that should yet have strength to 
prevail. The movement that was hurrying Italy away, and re-echoed 
through Turin, swept off with it successively the first constitutional 
ministry of Count Balbo, Count Casati's ministry of compromise, 



GIOBER TVS PLAN. 5 1 5 

the armistice ministry of Alfieri, Revel, Pinelli, rushing into one 
of headlong measures, revolutionary plots, and war at any price. In 
the latter days of 1848, Vincenzo Gioberti, a man raised to power 
through popularity, seemed, for a moment only, called to arrest 
events, or to stamp them with a new character. He endeavored to 
do so, and, in making the effort, he soon began to appreciate the 
energetic assistance of Cavour, who had previously defended to the 
utmost the ministry of Counts Revel and Pinelli, against him. 

Gioberti felt the danger of a revolutionary policy, and believed 
that, without renouncing the idea of national independence, he could 
secure it by a different method ; and before attacking Austria Pied- 
mont had another part to play, that of bringing the grand duke to 
Florence and the pope to Rome, and every-where re-establish a con- 
stitutional government — in a word, to direct the Italian movement. 
By pursuing this course Piedmont would deprive Austria of one 
excuse for intervening in Peninsular affairs, at the same time concil- 
iating and strengthening the restored princes ; she would regain the 
sympathy of Europe, which, almost exhausted by constant agitation 
and excitement, seemed ready to forsake her, and when her work was 
completed she would find herself in a better position either to nego- 
tiate with the concourse of mediating powers or again to take up arms. 

Every thing appeared to be in readiness for the consummation 
of the plan. It was approved by England and France ; and General 
Alfonso La Marmora was approaching with a Piedmontese division 
from Tuscany. It was unfortunate for Gioberti that he came into 
power with such men as Ratazzi, Buffa, Sineo, and Tecchio, and, 
besides, he committed a great error in dissolving the first Piedmontese 
parliament when it had hardly been established, and in permitting a 
new and thoroughly democratic chamber to be elected under the 
auspices of his name. He regarded himself a leader when he had 
ceased to be any thing. At last he was left alone with his project 
of intervention, forsaken by a chamber to which ten elections had 
returned him, betrayed in his own cabinet by certain of his own col- 
leagues, and vainly supported by Cavour, who had now to defend 
him against his recent friends. His defeat was the victory of the 
democratic ministers, opposed to intervention in central Italy, de- 
siring the failure of the armistice and all negotiations, and anxious 
for immediate war. The overthrow of Gioberti was the resumption 
of the old policy of extremes, with an army still inefficiently reor- 
ganized and irritated by party insults, with a king overwhelmed with 
bitterness. 

34 



5 16 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING IXTO LIGHT. 

Charles Albert, placed midway between intricate complications at 
home and a new war of independence, preferred to throw himself on 
the Austrian sword, heading a country whose only cry was, ' * Let us 
make an end of it." One year after first crossing the Ticino, and 
the hopeful departure for the campaign in Lombardy, Piedmont 
found herself again driven to the combat, to play the highest of 
stakes. The policy of ** revolutionary means," to use Cavour's own 
words, had been tried, and it resulted as he had predicted. On the 
24th of March, 1849, i^ ended in the catastrophe of Novara, where 
Charles Albert staked his crown with an all but desperate heroism, 
and for a time the last chance was wrecked for Piedmont and Italy. 
The defeat of. Novara was soon followed by an armistice, which 
handed over a portion of the country to foreign occupation. The 
Austrians, encamped on the Sesia, had power to place a garrison in 
Alessandria, and they held Piedmont between the two threats of an 
absolute invasion or a treaty of peace in which they would dictate 
the terms. The Piedmontese could no longer make any steady re- 
sistance. The army had fought bravely at IMortara and at Novara, 
under the eyes of Charles Albert, and always stood firm in the hot- 
test of the battle. IVIany of the generals and other officers had 
fallen before the enemy. As it was chiefly composed of recruits, 
who felt that it had been compelled to pay the price of blood for 
the madness of political agitators, the army was entirely demoralized. 
A general panic ensued, and the officers could not control their men. 

Xl Turin the clubs resounded with denunciations, and there nat- 
urally arose a cry of treason. Popular feeling wavered between 
discouragement and exasperation, and found expression in passionate 
rhetoric. In the Chambers Brofferio prepared a decree of general 
insurrection, and the formation in the assembly of a committee of 
public safety. In parliament motions rapidly followed one another ; 
one ingeniously declaring the armistice to be "unconstitutional," and 
the " statuto " in peril; another threatening to indict the government 
if it opened the gates of Alessandria to the Austrians ; a third seri- 
ously proposed an inquiry into the situation and as to means for 
pursuing the war. All this as though the enemy were not at hand 
and ready to draw the sword of certain victory when defied. 

But the agitation at Turin was slight compared with that in 
other cities. When the news of the disaster at Novara first reached 
the populous and fiery city of Genoa, the town of Mazzini, the 
contagion of discontent rapidly spread, passing from agitation to 
insurrection, and thence to a real revolution. Either the army had 



THE TWO POLICIES. 517 

betrayed its chiefs or it had been betrayed by them. The "statute" 
had been violated. Turin was to be handed over to the Austrians, 
and Genoa herself was to be held as a hostage of war. By the cir- 
culation of these reports the agitators inflamed the public mind and 
gave the signal for civil war. The garrison \\as chiefly composed of 
reserves, poorly commanded, and was compelled to retire after a 
humiliating surrender to the rioters, who thus remained masters of 
the town — the arms, artillery, forts, and defenses of the most impor- 
tant place in the kingdom. The excited populace massacred a few 
unfortunate persons, among whom were a major of carbineers and 
the military commandant of the city, and detained as hostages the 
general and his family. The Genoese revolutionists, headed by an 
old emigre, the veteran Avezzana, constituted itself an association 
of public safety — the provisional government of Liguria. It refused 
to recognize the armistice, it separated itself from Piedmont, and it 
humiliated the army by arraying itself against the regular authorities. 
Indeed, what occurred as early as 1849 ^^ Genoa was an anticipatory 
sketch of the commune in Paris in 1871. 

These disturbances could onl)- add to the misery of the masses, 
draw on Piedmont a still heavier invasion, and place the government 
in a more embarrassing situation. The defeat at Novara, the disor- 
ganized army, the threatened ruin of the army, agitations at Turin, 
civil war at Genoa, uncertainty every-where; such were the events 
immediately preceding the abdication of Charles Albert. When the 
young prince who was destined by his birth to wear the crown of 
Savoy — Victor Emmanuel — re-entered Turin in the last days of 
March, 1849, ^^^ occupied a critical position. Every thing depended 
upon his first acts. Two policies were open to him. He could lay 
aside the ''statuto" and the recently inaugurated liberal regime, again 
become possessor of the blue flag of Savoy, and recover the past by 
shutting himself up within his frontiers, and no longer directing his 
attention beyond the Ticino towards Italy. By the adoption of this 
policy at that decisive moment of European reaction and national 
confusion he certainly would have obtained an easier peace, and he 
would in his embarrassment have had the support of Austria. There 
were not Avanting powerful influences which inclined him to this reso- 
lution, and had he yielded to these external solicitations he would 
perhaps have obtained a certain momentary security, but it would 
have placed him in the modest condition of a subject of Austria-, 
another duke of Modena, or a second grand duke of Tuscany. Vic- 
tor Emmanuel could also have manfully resigned himself to his unfor- 



5i8 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



tunate surroundings and have endured the disastrous results of war 
without sacrificing the "statuto" or the tricolored flag, the only two 
surviving representatives, the only two symbols of Piedmontese inde- 
pendence, and of Italian hopes that were left. 




VICTOR EMMANUEL, 



The soldierly and princely Victor Emmanuel did not long hesitate 
between these divergent policies, but accepted the part of a liberal 
and national king. The sincerity of his intentions was show^n in a 
significant manner by his elevating to the post of prime minister, him 
who might be termed the Knight of Italy, Massimo d'Azeglio, still 



TERMS OF PEA CE. 5 1 9 

lame of a wound he had received at Vicenza. The fate of Italy was 
decided by this important step. "This made of that dark day of 
Novara not only an anniversary of mourning for the bloody termina- 
tion to the inconsecutive attempts of 1848," says De Mazade, "but 
made it also the somber yet absolute starting-point of a new epoch." 
By the preservation of the tricolored Italian flag and the maintenance 
of the "statuto" the future of Italy was saved. "It is a long work 
to recommence," said D'Azeglio, "but we will recommence it." 
And on the other hand Cavour wTote about the same time to Sal- 
vagnoli : "As long as liberty exists in one corner of the Peninsula we 
must not despair of the future. As long as Piedmont can protect its 
institutions from despotism and anarchy there will be a means of 
working successfully at the regeneration of the country." 

Depending alone upon the "statuto," Massimo d'Azeglio entered 
into office after Novara, associating with himself moderate and patri- 
otic men — Count Siccardi, Paleocapa, the Venetian, the banker, 
Nigra, and General Alfonso La Marmora, w^ho had lately won the 
gratitude of the nation by suppressing with equal judgment and 
promptitude the factious Genoese. This great service was not easily 
performed, because among the obstacles to be overcome w^ere the 
irritation and confusion of parties, parliamentary blunders resulting 
from inexperience, and all possible internal and external difficulties. 
D'Azeglio saw that peace must be secured, and, in submitting to it 
and negotiating for it as the chief necessity, he set an example of 
resigned patriotism and real self-denial. It was evident that this- 
peace must be a hard one, taking Piedmont back to the treaties of 
181 5, and inflicting a war indemnity of seventy-five millions of francs, 
a heavy weight on the budget of the country. While to some extent 
it was humiliating, yet, being a necessity, national honor was willing 
to endure it. Strange as it may appear, there were parties who 
desired to bargain with that necessity, and, though scarcely to be 
credited, refused to co-operate, at the risk of sacrificing every thing. 
The government on two occasions was compelled to dissolve the 
house, and, on the last of these two, the king himself deemed it 
necessary to make a direct appeal to the common sense of the coun- 
try by the proclamation of Moncalicri, which, under the cloak of a 
coup d'etat, was nevertheless a deed of far-sighted liberalism. "Do 
not these gentlemen perceive," said D'Azeglio, sadly, "that the- 
ministry has already enough to do in upholding the constitution, and: 
that aftn' 7/s, tJie Croats .?' ' 

But this was not the only task to be performed. While Piedmont 



520 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

boldly stood by constitutional government, reaction was triumphant 
in all parts of Europe. Piedmontese liberty seemed an anomaly and 
a danger when contrasted with the absolutist restorations which were 
occurring around it in Italy, at Rome, at Florence, and at Milan. 
Austria called Turin an ''incendiary focus." The emperor of Russia 
declined any intercourse with the new king of Sardinia. Even in 
France the Conservative party, which had lately reinstated the pope 
at Rome, regarded this transalpine constitutional regime as an impor- 
tunate and troublesome brawler, because it pretended to accomplish 
reforms both civil and religious. Piedmont was compelled, as it were, 
in the midst of opposition from every side, to wrest virtually, day 
by day, from Austria and from domestic factions as well as foreign 
suspicions, that "statuto" which constituted the basis upon which 
the national edifice could alone stand. Revolutions and revolution- 
ists had almost wrecked the temple of freedom, but a sagacious 
prince like Victor Emmanuel and his wise supporters believed that 
the ''statuto" would be a means of reconstruction if aided -by a 
constitutional monarchy. 

As we have already stated, the elections for January, 1849, ^vhich 
had overthrown Gioberti, also defeated Cavour. He was excluded 
from parliament as a reactionary or codino, being defeated by the 
extremists, who brought forward to oppose him an ''obscure nonen- 
tity" of the name of Pansoya — a Barodet of the period — who derived 
his celebrity of one day from that strange adventure. But at the elec- 
tions, which followed soon after the disaster at Novara, Cavour was 
returned to the house, never again to leave it; and in this new posi- 
tion his authority rapidly increased, Avarranted and confirmed by his 
clear-sighted wisdom, his patriotic spirit, and a superiority that was 
recognized in matters of public and financial economy. 



ALESSANDRO GAVAZZL $21 



Fifth Decade Continued, 1840-1850. 



Chapter IX. 

ALESSANDRO GAVAZZI—PIUS IX—GIOBERTI. 

AMONG the eloquent champions of ItaHan independence, unity, 
and evangelization who appeared upon the scene at this mem- 
orable period was Alessandro Gavazzi. He was born in 1809 at 
Bologna, and was the second of twenty children. His father was a 
barrister and a judge, and many of his ancestors were among the 
most eminent magistrates of his native city. In 1825 he embraced 
the monastic life and entered the order of the Barnabites, and, in 
1829, at the early age of twenty, he was appointed professor of rhet- 
oric in no less a city than Naples. He exhibited great talents and 
was regarded as precocious in his physical and intellectual develop- 
ments. Thence he was sent to Livorno or Leghorn. In both places 
he was not only admired as a man of genius, but beloved as a dear 
friend. He desired, however, to instruct his fellow-creatures in a 
larger sphere, and accordingly abandoned the chair for the pulpit. 
In a short time the principal towns of Italy resounded with his bold 
and impressive eloquence, and his name became familiar to all. 
Wherever he preached the churches were crowded to excess, and he 
was soon recognized as the cherished apostle of the religion of Christ. 
In a country where only the religion of men was found, such a man 
produced a sensation, and was *' a burning and a shining light" in that 
night of papal darkness. He did not preach the superstitious prac- 
tices of Rome, but the precepts of the Gospel; and, above all, he 
illustrated them by the example of a pure, simple, and moral life. 
The Jesuits never forgave him for his fearless proclamation of the 
truth, and the priests opposed him because he advocated a morality 
which they did not practice. 

When the infamous Gregory XVI died (June i, 1846), Gavazzi 
had been for twelve months in a sort of confinement in the Convent 
of Noviziato, at the small town, St. Severino, in the march of Ancona. 
After the accession of Pope Pius IX, Gavazzi was released, and imme- 
diately resumed his preaching. His friend and fellow exile, G. B. 
Nicolini, in writing of this change in the pontificate, says: "The 



522 ITAL Y STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

pontiff, Pio Nono — alas! why should I be obliged to revert to that 
brief period of illusion, to that moment when the heart of my noble 
country beat anew and drew inspiration from the tombs of the Camilli 
and the Scipios, sanctified as we thought by the blessing of the 
Vatican? Why did those bright dreams vanish so soon? Why were 
we recalled from prison and exile, and presented with the cup of 
liberty, only to have it withdrawn from our lips almost before we 
had tasted its sweets? Oh, bitter, bitter delusion! Oh, stolid folly 
to rely on a pope for freedom and independence!" 

After having been in exile sixteen years, Nicolini returned in the 
middle of November to Senigallia, where his family resided. He was 
met by many old and dear friends, and, after the first greetings were 
over, all of them, without an exception, asked him: "Wert thou 
here to hear Gavazzi?" or '*Hast thou heard Gavazzi?" and similar 
questions. Gavazzi had preached a day or two before, and his ser- 
mon, more or less richly framed, hung out of nearly every shop, no 
matter whether great or small. It was inscribed to Joseph, the pope's 
brother. Nicolini was not then personally acquainted with Gavazzi, 
and, desiring to meet him, he hastened to Count Joseph to find the 
eloquent preacher, but he had gone away. The count, who had 
been a prisoner and an exile, and who was certainly the less mischiev- 
ous of the Mastai, declared that he entertained the greatest hopes 
from the truly liberal and Christian principles of Gavazzi. These 
incidents, to some extent, indicated the popularity of the Barnabite 
monk. But his popularity did not result entirely from his eloquence. 
He proclaimed the truth, and that is more powerful than eloquence. 
The Italians themselves were astonished at the new phenomenon — a 
priest and monk exposing the iniquities of priests and monks. The 
hearts of his auditors palpitated with holy delight when he demon- 
strated that the religion of Christ was not the religion of blood-thirsty 
and cruel tyrants or the support of the oppressor, but was a religion 
of love and of brotherhood, and the refuge of the oppressed. 

The following extract from Nicolini's writings is no doubt a true 
reflection of the patriotic Italian mind at that time: "And believe 
me, if you want to introduce reformation into Italy, you must first 
persuade the Italians that the religion of the Gospel has nothing, 
absolutely nothing, to do with the religion of the priests. If you do 
not succeed in this, you may give up all hope, not only of introduc- 
ing reforms, but even of counteracting the spirit of atheism which is 
widely spread among the Italian youth. Ah, yes ! so it is. Why 
should I deny it? I have no motive to deceive you. The priests 



NICOLINI ON ROMANISM. 523 

have made of the warm-hearted Itahans almost a nation of atheists. 
What wonder! Can you not conceive it? Have they not made our 
rehgion the cause of all our miseries? Do we not owe to the ambi- 
tion of the popes the decay of our glory, the loss of our independ- 
ence? Have they not perverted and turned to their own account the 
most sacred doctrines of the Gospel? The sign of our redemption, 
has it not been changed into the ax of the executioner? Are we 
not condemned to death, not in the name of the law, but in the 
name of Christ, the judges placing their hands on a crucifix? Does 
not that priest, who says that an hour before he had in his hand, and 
now keeps in his bosom, the true body and blood of Christ, does he 
not, I say, sign our death-warrant, and return immediately after to 
take in the same hand, covered with our blood, the body of Christ? 
And are you surprised that the ardent and superficially informed 
youth of Italy, identifying the religion of Christ with that of the 
pope, should become atheists ? Let us then try to sweep away those 
priests and their corrupted religion ; let us throw down the last frag- 
ment of the old house, and then we shall be able to build a new 
one." By such declarations, in which he exposed the corruption and 
tyranny of Rome, Nicolini expressed the prevailing sentiment in 
Italy relative to the priesthood. 

Soon after the accession of Pope Pius IX, in 1846, Gavazzi 
removed to Rome, drawn thither by sympathy with the reformatory 
spirit of the new pontiff. The latter had heard of the popularity of 
the preacher, and, as he was strongly recommended to him by his 
brothers, Gavazzi was admitted to an audience on the second day 
of his arrival. The reception was at first rather cool, and the coun- 
tenance of the pope serious. He had been informed of the wonder- 
ful effect of Gavazzi's sermon at Senigallia, which aroused so much 
enthusiasm that even the sanctity of the Church could not restrain it, 
and several times the people expressed their feelings in plaudits, to 
the great scandal of the cardinal-archbishop, who was officiating. 
This fact had been communicated to the pope, who, being very 
strict in the performance of religious ceremonies, was displeased, and 
thus addressed the preacher : ' * So, Father Gavazzi ! they have been 
applauding you in the church?" and he was probably proceeding to 
reprove him, when the sharp-witted monk answered : ''Not me, holy 
father, but to your holiness's name." Pius smiled graciously, and 
changed the conversation immediately. Indeed, he was always desir- 
ous of obtaining applause and flattery, and it is said that, on one 
occasion, when he had been received coolly by the populace of Rome, 



524 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

because he had refused to grant a popular request, he went home 
and, hke Peter, ''wept bitterly." 

Rome, at that time, was regarded by the liberal party as the hope 
of Italy, and Pius IX as the redeemer of their country. It is impos- 
sible to describe the enthusiasm of the Italians for the pope, and 
those only who resided in the city at that period can have an ade- 
quate conception of it. People of every class rejoiced, because they 
considered him the defender of their sacred rights. All advocated 
reform except the Jesuits and their partisans, who were enraged at 
the new order of things, and even formed a conspiracy against the 
life of the pope. The vigilance and energy of the Romans defeated 
the parricidal project, and, by the unanimous voice of the citizens, 
Gavazzi was called to preach a sermon of thanksgiving to God for 
having delivered the country from the hands of the conspirators. 
On this occasion he fully expressed the thoughts which burned 
within his breast. He exposed the enormities of the past reign ; he 
painted in vivid colors the butcheries whicli had stained the pontifi- 
cate of Gregory XVI with blood ; and he demanded a reform of the 
many abuses which made the religion of Christ a religion of oppres- 
sion and tyranny. How cruelly disappointed must Gavazzi have been 
when, instead of receiving the thanks of the pope for his apostolic 
zeal and unsparing severity in speaking the truth, he was forbidden 
again to preach. That eloquent and powerful voice, which revealed the 
secrets of the priests' iniquities, was silenced, and Gavazzi, believing 
in his heart that perhaps his zeal had led him to utter indiscreet lan- 
guage, obeyed the order and was silent. On one occasion only he 
could not resist the temptation again to preach. Some of the pa- 
triotic Italians were assembled on the 22d of January, 1848, in the 
University Church at Rome, holding a memorial service in honor 
of their brethren, Avho had been slaughtered by the Croats at Milan 
and at Mantua. The edifice was full to suffocation, and the cere- 
mony deeply impressive and affecting. There were present all the 
studious youths and many of the noble and illustrious citizens, attired 
in deep mourning, and wearing branches of cypress on the breasts 
of their coats. In devout and profound silence the audience listened 
to the solemn chants with which the church echoed, when suddenly a 
unanimous cry was heard from the assembled multitude for Gavazzi, 
who was present, to ascend the pulpit. He was so wonderfully 
inspired by the commemorative services that he could not refuse the 
call, and immediately entered the sacred desk. ''But how can I 
describe," says Nicolini, "the different strong sensations which his 



GA VAZZI IMPRISONED. 525 

powerful voice, at times pathetic and commemorative, and at times 
severe and imprecatory, excited in our breasts? We were almost in 
a state of delirium. I never heard Gavazzi more eloquent." 

But Pius IX was determined to punish him, even though he had 
denounced Haynau and Radetsky, the authors of these butcheries, 
and pronounced a eulogy upon the brave Italians ; and he was, there- 
fore, sent to the penitentiary at La Polveriera. Rome was in a tumult 
and many proposed to release Gavazzi by force, but the more cau- 
tious ^advised sending a deputation to the pope. Father Ventura, 
celebrated, first for his exertions in favor of civil and religious liberty, 
and afterwards his apostasy from that sacred cause, and Prince Gae- 
tani, the first layman who entered the council of the pope, were sent 
to the latter to express the wishes of the Romans that Gavazzi 
should be released. After some observations the pope promised that 
next morning he should be set free. The embassadors departed 
highly pleased, and the people who had assembled to hear the 
answer raised a tremendous shout of applause for Pius IX. What 
was their astonishment when next morning it was known that during 
the night Gavazzi had been transferred to the Capuchin monastery 
of Gensona. These friars were suspected of liberalism by the court 
of Rome, and not a few of them were once to be found among the 
Car'bonari. They received Gavazzi so kindly and treated him so well, 
that Pius IX, after his return from Gaeta, sent them into distant prov- 
inces by way of punishment. 

When first the news spread through Rome of the confinement of 
the eloquent preacher all the city went to the convent which was 
his ordinary residence to give in their names ; but he was not there, 
and Nicolini, in re-entering his own dwelling, on his return from the 
pious pilgrimage, was dragged to prison by the order of the pope. 
Gavazzi had spoken the truth and Nicolini had written a pamphlet 
against the Jesuits. The latter was the first man imprisoned by Pio 
Nono for a political offense. The arrest of these two patriots pro- 
duced great excitement, but the pope would not yield to popular sen- 
timent. The cardinals who were the least inclined to liberal reforms 
returned to court. Savelli took the place of Morandi as governor 
of Rome, and the entire policy of Pius IX changed. The proceed- 
ing against the retrograde conspirators was abandoned, and Rome 
presented a sad and mournful aspect. But the liberal movement 
could not be arrested by any man, however great. The execrated 
king of Naples, urged by the king of Piedmont and the pope to 
grant some reforms to keep his people quiet, unwilling to consent 



526 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

and unable to resist, played them a Jesuitical trick by giving' them a 
"constitution." This still further aroused the Romans, and their 
excited minds became more inflamed as the news came in rapid suc- 
cession — of the outbreak at Vienna — of the noble and unanimous 
insurrection of the heroic people of Milan, where some hundreds of 
unarmed citizens had fought during five days against fourteen thou- 
sand Austrians, protected by a strong citadel and by hundreds of can- 
non, and had expelled them from their town. The Austrians, driven 
from Milan, Venice, Padua, and other places, tremblingly retired into 
their strongholds of Verona, Mantua, Peschiera, etc. 

When the news of these stirring events reached Rome, the feel- 
ing of indignation was so intense that no power on earth could have 
moderated it. From every part of Italy a cry arose — "a cry," says 
Nicolini, ''universal, irrepressible, powerful as the voice of God, 
calling for arms, that our sanguinary oppressors might be expelled 
from the Italian soil. The long-cherished hopes of independence 
assumed the shape of reality, and from Etna to the summit of the 
Alps a long and uninterrupted shout was heard, of 'Away with the 
strangers!' " Pius the Ninth would have prevented the Italians from 
rushing to arms; but neither he nor any other man could have 
damped their spirits. Ten thousand National Guards took up arms, 
and, accompanied by twenty thousand citizens, went to the Quirinal, 
and demanded to be sent to the plains of Lombardy to drive out 
the Austrians. To this excited multitude Gavazzi, who had been set 
at liberty, preached from the middle of the Coliseum. It was an im- 
posing scene. The powerful orator, surrounded with the ruins of one 
of Rome's grandest monuments, addressed the "sons of Vesuvius," 
and denounced the butcheries of their brethren. The multitude 
seemed to be infuriated, and, together with the speaker, swore to die 
for their country. But the brave Gavazzi, remembering even then 
that he was a monk, selected for his standard the typical form of the 
cross, and wore it on his breast in the thickest of the fray. Before 
two days had passed the crusade commenced, and the enthusiasm 
was indescribable. From Prince Ruspoliosi, who marched as a sim- 
ple commoner, to the lowest shoemaker, the army contained all 
classes of society. "For the sake of human nature," says Nicolini, 
"I will believe that even Mastai forgot, for a moment, that he was 
pope, and felt that he was an Italian ! He blessed his country. 
'Great God,' said he, 'bless this Italy!' Oh, thou Mastai! either 
hypocrite or renegade, what hast thou done with those patriots whom 
thou then blessedst?" In answer to this question, propounded in 



O VA TION TO GA VAZZI. 5 27 

185 1, Ninolini said: "Alas! most of these generous men are either 
now wandering in exile or pining in prison." The Barnabite monk 
was appointed chaplain-in-chief of the army ; and the pope afterward 
received him, addressed him in the kindest manner, and gave him 
religious instructions for his new mission. 

The army marched onward, preceded by Gavazzi, as ''the aveng- 
ing angel," who exclaimed : " We are blessed by Pius, and God sends 
us: God who has stretched forth his hands to save the elect people 
from the bondage of slavery condemned by his holy Gospel !" These 
words, in the mouth of such a man, produced a wonderful effect ; 
and his march through the Roman states and Tuscany was a perfect 
ovation. The Italians manifest their feelings with all the warm and 
poetic passion of their southern clime, and hence it was not strange 
that, in many places, the horses were unharnessed from Gavazzi's 
carriage, and that noble youths dragged his conveyance in triumph 
into the towns. Often troops of damsels, arrayed in robes of white, 
preceded the coach, strewing flowers on his way, and singing national 
songs as did the Hebrew maidens of old before King David. If the 
patriotic monk had been a man of motives less pure, ambition might 
have led him astray ; but he was not selfish. He made every thing 
subservient to his country's cause, and desired nothing but the mod- 
est position of a chaplain. 

When the army, in its triumphant, uninterrupted march, reached 
Bologna, orders were sent from Rome, commanding it to return. 
Mastai, forgetting that he was an Italian, was animated by the spirit 
of the papacy, and sanctioned the proposal of the * * butcher of Na- 
ples, the jailer of Poerio," to recall the troops he had been compelled 
to send for the deliverance of his country. The soldiers were greatly 
perplexed, not knowing whether to disobey the king, and have their 
mothers, their wives, and their children imprisoned or murdered, or to 
disregard the call of their country. The larger part were for the king ; 
but Gavazzi was not intimidated. Standing in the midst of this armed 
and excited multitude, he poured forth a strain of the most impas- 
sioned eloquence, imploring them to be faithful to their country. 
His courage rose with the occasion, his form seemed to dilate, and his 
eyes flashed with unusual fire. Though that powerful voice seemed 
to move the listening crowd, yet only a few noble patriots adhered 
to the cause of the speaker. The remainder of the troops, or the 
contingent sent from Naples, were but lazzaroni, clad in the soldier 
garb, who uttered imprecations against the fearless preacher, and 
would have put him to death if he had not displayed firmness and 



5 28 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

remarkable courage. The Neapolitan army went back to Naples to 
butcher their brethren, and to immure in dungeons the noblest of 
the citizens. It seemed to be ordained that Italy had yet to pass 
through bitter trials of blood and misery before she could be free. 
"Perhaps," says Nicolini, "we were not yet worthy of the blessing 
of liberty ! Perhaps God, in his infinite wisdom, pjrvented Italy fjvin 
being liberated at the hands of the pope, in order that that abhoired i?isti- 
tutiofi, the popedom, might be szuept fivm the face of the earth, ivithont 
leaving beJiind it a single regret. ' ' 

Resolving to deliver their country or to die, the patriotic army 
marched onward to Padua. In the cathedral of that city, one of the 
most beautiful of the many magnificent churches of Italy, Gavazzi, 
that second Peter the Hermit, again raised his eloquent voice in 
prayer to God to bless the holy cause of national regeneration. True 
to his apostolic mission, he never spoke without appealing to the 
religious feelings of his auditors, and inculcating the duty of always 
following the sublime dictates of the Gospel. From Padua the army 
marched on to Venice, and received an enthusiastic welcome. There 
the presence of Gavazzi created an intense excitement, and he was 
waited on by Manin, Tomasseo, and the other members of the Vene- 
tian government, and requested to address the people on the Place 
of St. Mark — the piazza of S. Marco — that noble monument of past 
glories, that masterpiece of Italian genius ! The Place of St. Marco, 
the theater, Italians of all states, the auditors, Gavazzi, the orator! — 
theater, auditors, and orator, worthy of one another, and forming a 
spectacle of rare and engrossing interest! Every stone of the sur- 
rounding palace spoke of former glory, and the "Lion of St. Mark," 
long the dread of the infidel and the barbarian, on his marble column, 
seemed to revive and shake his noble mane. It is easy to conceive 
how Gavazzi reveled in great and glorious images and illustrations, 
suggested by the objects which surrounded him on every side. The 
emotion was so strong that tears fell from almost every eye. Gavazzi 
urged the active men to advance against the enemy; and he asked the 
feeble and the aged to give their offerings towards the expenses of the 
war. Hundreds of young Venetians, yielding to the powerful effects 
of eloquence, and moved by the love of liberty, pressed forward, eager 
to shed their blood for their country. It was a sublime spectacle. 

At the same time thousands of the people of both sexes and of 
all ages at once poured the contents of their purses on the platform. 
Those who had no money gave any thing of value they had upon 
them. Nobody went away without making an offering. No woman 



GA VAZZI 'S BRA VER V. 529 

took away with her all the jewels she had on when she left home. 
Many divested themselves of every ornament, thinking their charms 
sufficiently adorned that" day with the inestimable gem, the love of 
father-land ! The more joyful were those who had the more to give. 
The smile of satisfaction was on the countenance of every one, ex- 
cept a poor girl, who was sad and depressed because she had nothing 
to give. Suddenly clasping her hands, with a cry of exultation, she 
ran frantically away, cut off her beautiful, black tresses, and, all 
radiant with joy, brought the price to lay upon the altar of her coun- 
try. Five thousand pounds, besides precious things, were the results 
of Gavazzi's appeal. From that moment commenced a series of 
sacrifices on the part of the Venetians, which almost surpasses con- 
ception, and which availed Venice nothing, but the glory of being 
the last bulwark of Italian independence. 

Meanwhile the Austrian forces had gathered courage, and were 
pouring down on the Venetian territory. The Roman troops met 
them at Cornuda, and a severe battle was fought at some distance 
from Treviso. Throughout all the horrors of the war Gavazzi never 
deserted his post, and in each fierce encounter he and that holy mar- 
tyr, Bassi, were always to be seen among the foremost, exhorting 
and encouraging the men before the fight, and, after it, giving every 
kind of consolation to those who had been sufferers. Nicolini has 
recorded the fact that four of Gavazzi's brothers were in the Roman 
army, and that while the battle near Treviso was progressing Gavazzi 
himself, unmindful of the shower of bullets and grape-shot which fell 
upon the brave troops, went through the midst of it, supporting on 
his bosom a wounded man. Charles, his eldest brother, trembled for 
his safety, and cried out: '' Alessandro, Alessandro, do not expose 
yourself. Go behind that tree!" The fearless apostle stirred not 
from the spot. The Roman forces were compelled to retreat ; but 
Gavazzi did not move until he had seen the wounded man safe in 
a wagon. 

Treviso and Vicenza, after performing prodigies of valor, were 
forced to capitulate. Though brave and ready to die for their native 
land, inexperienced men, collected from the benches of universities, 
from the forum, and from the gilded palaces of the city, could not 
contend against an old and disciplined army. Charles Albert was 
betrayed by his staff, who were either ignorant of, or adverse to, the 
Italian movement. The hopes of the patriots began to darken, and 
their faith in the nation's regeneration to diminish. The warm-hearted 
Gavazzi, however, did not despair. After the capitulation of Vicenza, 



5 30 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

he went from town to town, from Florence to Milan, to endeavor to 
revive the fire of patriotism wherever it seemed to be dying out. 
But misfortune followed misfortune. The Piedmontese army was 
routed and Milan surrendered by a very inglorious capitulation. 
With the fall of the latter the fate of Italy was decided. Vainly 
the brave Garibaldi, with his gallant band, made heroic efforts to 
renew the war in the advantageous position of the Alps ; but, desti- 
tute of all resources, he was compelled to yield. Italy was again 
trodden by its merciless tyrants. All Milan fled from the infuriated 
Radetsky, whose revengeful anger even burst upon women, many of 
whom were publicly whipped for the crime of preferring their coun- 
trymen to the Austrians. Gavazzi formed one of the large body of 
emigrants, and departed for Genoa, where he spent some days in 
sorrow. The prospects of Italy were so dark that even his dauntless 
heart became discouraged. 

But while the patriot was lamenting the fate of his beloved coun- 
try the priest was called to the discharge of the duties of his holy 
ministry. Bologna, his native town, was the theater of many acts 
of ferocious barbarity. It is a common belief that the priests insti- 
gated some ruffians to commit murders, that the blame might be 
cast upon the liberal party. However it was, the spirit of blood had 
entered men's hearts, and Bologna was a scene of death and desola- 
tion. All the means adopted to calm the excited passions that pre- 
vailed having failed, as a last resource the citizens of Bologna sent 
for ** Father Gavazzi," who accepted the perilous task, rejoicing in 
the noble enterprise that was laid before him. Leaving Genoa, he 
proceeded to Livorno, whose inhabitants received the apostle of lib- 
erty with wild enthusiasm, and desired him to remain a long time in 
their city; but the noble hero, having always before him his "bleed- 
ing Bologna," was anxious to hasten his departure. Now a question 
arose with him whether he should or should not pass through Flor- 
ence. The Florentines longed to hear his powerful voice, and derive 
from it some comfort to the glorious but mournful remembrance of 
Curtadona. But the government, and especially the grand duke, 
Leopold of Hapsburg, the gens cVannes of Guicciardini, had no desire 
that the eloquent voice of such a man should be heard in the same 
place where once preached Savonarola ; so that, repenting of having 
granted him permission to pass through his capital, he sent troops 
oi gens d'ainnes and dragoons to arrest him on the way. It was truly 
a ludicrous sight to see such an army of sbirri sent, brandishing their 
arms, to arrest a poor, unarmed monk. He was seized, put into a 




PIUS IX. 



532 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

coach, and escorted by gens cVanncs to the Tuscan frontier. But this 
breach of faith nearly cost the hypocritical grand duke his throne. 
The Livornese revolted, the Florentines followed their example; and 
Leopold, compelled to fly, did not return to Florence but through 
the treason of Guerrazzi, and after four months' exile. 

At Bologna, however, Gavazzi found ample compensation for the 
insult he had suffered. He entered the city as an angel of peace, 
with an olivq-branch in his hand, and addressed the multitude col- 
lected on the public place. "Am I among assassins, or among 
Italians?" exclaimed he to the crowd. An outburst of applause told 
him that the assassins would disappear and the Italians remain. 
After that day Bologna was the quietest of all the Italian cities. 
As a recompense for his noble and courageous conduct he was 
again arrested, and sent, a prisoner, to be immured in the inquis- 
itorial dungeon of Corneto. He had denounced the wrath of 
God not only on the assassins, but also on the betrayers of their 
country. He disarmed the ruffians, but frightened the priests. 
Pius IX ordered him to a dungeon ; but before he was thrown into 
it, on passing through Viterbo, the people of that town rose, dis- 
persed the gois iV an lies who guarded him, and gave Gavazzi 
his liberty. 

At this period a new era opened for Italy. Deceived by princes, 
the people resolved to fight for liberty, and the progress of events 
rapidly brought them to the decisive hour. When Cardinal Mastai 
Feretti ascended the papal throne, on the i6th of June, 1846, and 
began his reign by reversing the policy of Gregory XVI, his unpop- 
ular predecessor, the Italians were both surprised and delighted. 
Pius IX inaugurated a series of moderately liberal reforms, and was 
hailed as the political savior of his country. He was to be a consti- 
tutional pope, and his first acts revived the drooping hearts of the 
people. All those wdio had been imprisoned for violating the civil 
law were liberated, and received a full amnesty. The citizens of the 
States of the Church were granted liberty of speech and the right to 
petition for a redress of grievances. The convents and monasteries 
were made subject to a rigid inspection, and other innovations were 
made. The Gregoriani, or admirers of the previous pope, were in- 
dignant at these radical changes ; the extreme republicans were angry 
because Pius IX had become the most popular man in Italy ; but the 
great mass of the people of the papal states were enthusiastic in 
their support of the new regime. In the Autumn of 1846 and the 
Spring of 1847 i^iany disturbances occurred in the streets of Rome, 



DANIEL MANIN. 533 

and, the papal troops and the municipal police being unable to pre- 
serve peace, the liberal party demanded of Pius IX the formation of 
a national guard. This was done, not only in Rome, but in all the 
papal states; and the Austrian government, wishing to punish the 
pope for yielding to the popular demand, sent a strong force of 
Croats into his territory. Ferrara was occupied, in spite of the pro- 
tests of the papal legate. The success of the Roman movement 
encouraged the other Italian states to compel their rulers to grant 
them constitutions. In January, 1848, an insurrection occurred at 
Palermo, and the Sicilians made the duke of Genoa king, resisting 
for more than a year the efforts of Ferdinand V of Naples to subdue 
them. They lost confidence in the latter because, after having given 
them a liberal constitution, he soon violated it. Hence their deter- 
mined opposition to him. 

All the Italian princes looked to Austria for aid to suppress these 
popular movements ; but Charles Albert, king of Sardinia, became 
the champion of the national cause, and declared his intention to 
resist any further invasion of the papal territory by Austrian troops. 
The French revolution of 1848 aroused all the nations of Europe, 
and even conservative Austria was shaken. Her Hungarian subjects 
openly revolted, and rose in arms to win back their national inde- 
pendence. The Italians immediately took advantage of this rebellion, 
and also endeavored to throw off the Austrian yoke. On the i8th 
of March, 1848, the Milanese attacked the Hungarian garrison under 
Marshal Radetsky, and, after a five days' struggle, drove it from the 
city. Vicenza, Padua, Brescia, Bergamo, and other places, united 
with Milan in opposition to the Aush'ian army, and Radetsky, the 
commander, was compelled to relinquish Lombardy and fall back on 
Verona. On the 2 2d of March Venice drove out her Austrian gar- 
rison under Coinit Zichy ; the republic of Venice, or St. Mark, was 
proclaimed on the 23d, and Manin and Tommasseo were placed at 
the head of affairs. The first -named patriot and statesman, Daniel 
Manin, was born in Venice in 1804. He was the son of an eminent 
Jewish lawyer, and prepared himself for the same profession, grad- 
uating at the University of Padua in 1821. He married in 1825, and 
led a quiet, domestic life at Mestre, near Venice, engaged in histor- 
ical and legal studies and writings ; and commencing practice at the 
bar about 1830, he gained a high reputation as a jurist and orator. 
He early became known as the champion of the national cause, 
though not involved in any of the secret societies, and aiming to 
combat Austria rather with legal weapons than by conspiracies. On 



5 34 ^^-^^ ^ -STT? UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

several important political trials he acted as counsel for the defense, 
which brought him into collision with the government. 

After the accession of Pius IX to the Holy See Manin and 
Tommasseo became the leaders of the reform movement in Venice. 
In 1847 Manin exerted himself to make Austria give practical effect 
to the laws which she had nominally granted to Venice. He asked 
for a separate government of Venice and Lombardy, a revision of 
the codes, an annual budget, and freedom of religion and of the 
press. But his hopes of obtaining pacific concessions from the house 
of Hapsburg were destroyed by Radetsky's massacres in Milan on 
the 9th of January, 1848. On the i8th of January he and his col- 
league protested against these outrages, and were imprisoned. The 
French revolution, of the 24th of February, 1848, found Manin still 
in prison, and, as he was detained illegally, he refused to be set free 
by the populace on the 17th of March, and would only leave his place 
of detention on a decision of the courts. The revolution advanced 
in the mean time with rapid strides, and by the surrender of Count 
Zichy Venice became free. The people prepared to form an inde- 
pendent, permanent, republic in confederation with the Italian states; 
but as the king of Sardinia had already declared war against Austria, 
and was adopting a policy which promised to liberate the whole 
country, the Venetian assembly, which met on the 3d of June; 
agreed to the fusion with Piedmont and Lombardy, so as to form a 
united kingdom of Northern Italy. Manin tendered his resignation, 
but resumed power after the defeat of the Sardinians at Custozza, on 
the 25th of July. Previous to this disastrous event Charles Albert 
had been victorious during a four months' campaign, gallantly fight- 
ing at Pastrengo, Goito, Curtatone, and Vicenza, and rejoiced at the 
annexation of Lombardy and Venice to Sardinia, which was accom- 
plished in June and July, 1848. Radetsky, having been re-enforced, 
attacked the army of Charles Albert at Custozza, and inflicted upon 
it such a crushing defea't that it fell back behind the Ticino. The 
Austrians recovered Milan, and proclaimed Lombardy under martial 
law, which they enforced with great cruelty. 

This rapid review of events from the election of Pius IX to the 
promulgation of his encyclical on the 29th of April, 1848, indicates 
how strongly the national feeling ruled the Italians, leading them to 
victory and toward independence. A few more steps had yet to be 
taken before the long-oppressed people would rise against their mas- 
ters. The Austrian victory at Custozza was exasperating ; but this 
bitter feeling was intensified when Pius IX and the king of the Two 



VINCENZO GIOBERTI. 535 

Sicilies, fearing a war with Austria, deserted the popular cause. In 
his encyclical of the 29th of April the pope declared that his troops 
had taken part in the war against Austria without his consent. 
Ferdinand V deprived his people of the liberties he had granted 
them, and crushed out their resistance by a brutal massacre in the 
streets of Naples on the 15th of May. Pius IX was the first to de- 
sert the cause of Italy — or, rather, he had thrown away the mask 
of hypocrisy which he had worn in the beginning of his pontificate. 
After disowning the war of independence and blessing the Austrians, 
whom he called his" cherished sons," he recalled the gallant legions 
which had so courageously defended Venice. A liberal ministry was 
dismissed, and a reactionary one, with Rossi at its head, was chosen. 
It was by order of that ministry that Gavazzi was again arrested and 
sent to Rome. 

The encyclical of the pope destroyed the moderate party, and he 
was therefore compelled to fight the extreme republicans. At this 
time Vincenzo Gioberti occupied a prominent position in the conflict. 
This distinguished Italian philosopher was born in Turin on the 5th of 
April, 1801. He studied at the University of Turin, and, in 1825, 
was ordained priest. Becoming professor of theology in his native 
city, he spent several years in scholastic retirement. He inspired his 
pupils with the twin motives of patriotism and religion. On the 
accession of Charles Albert he was appointed court chaplain, but 
resigned the office in 1833. This step and the liberal tone of his 
university lectures made him suspected as an accomplice of the 
revolutionary schemes ' of "Young Italy," and he Avas suddenly 
arrested. No direct connection with the republican societies was 
proved, but he was sentenced to four years's imprisonment and to 
banishment. The first year of his exile he spent in Paris, for the 
purpose of pursuing his studies in philosophy. He then went to 
Brussels, where he occupied for eleven years the humble position of 
teacher in a private school. He resumed his interrupted studies, 
and in 1838 and 1 840 produced his philosophical works — his "Intro- 
duction to the Study of Philosophy" being famous. The mastery dis- 
played at once of the highest problems of theology, philosophy, and 
history gave him the reputation of being one of the profoundest 
thinkers of the age, while his learned expositions and hostile criti- 
cisms of the principal modern philosophical systems, his brilliant and 
novel subjection of science to revelation, and of all the culture of life 
to religion, caused him to be immediately recognized as one of the 
ablest advocates of the Roman Catholic philosophy. It was rather 



536 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

by the remarkably original form of its statements than by the novelty 
of its ideas that the Introdiiziojie exerted its influence, and caused 
Gioberti to be hailed as the reconstructor of modern philosophy. 

This work was quoted with applause in the charges of French and 
Italian bishops, and, though assailed by a portion of the Roman 
Catholic press, was examined, judged, and commended by Pope 
Gregory XVI. Eloquent, passionate, and full of bold and felicitous 
digressions, it contains more pages on literature, art, and especially 
politics, than on the philosophical theory which it introduces. In his 
work, ''Del Bcllo,'' published in 1841, he applies his philosophy to 
aesthetics. The first treatise of Gioberti that made him popularly 
known was the '' Del Printato Moirile e Civile Degli Italiani,'' issued in 
1843, whose object was to restore in Italy, not only the philosophy of 
the Christian Fathers, but the Guelf policy of the papacy. Italy, he 
maintains, is the sacerdotal nation of Roman Catholic Europe, being 
elected by Providence to guard the second dispensation, as Israel was 
to guard the first. He affirms that the priesthood has attempted to 
retain the people in tutelage beyond the proper time, after it has 
lost its former moral and intellectual authority over them. Hence, 
a fatal schism exists between the ecclesiastical and temporal orders, 
between spiritual and secular culture, which is the source of all the 
evils that afflict modern society. He proposes a voluntary cession 
by the priesthood of a dominion, which has become incompatible 
with modern civilization, and a thorough alliance of sacerdotal and 
lay culture. He calls upon the Italians and the Italian clergy to 
inaugurate this new civilization, urging the latter to put themselves 
at the head of social movements, and to be the champions, and not 
the enemies of the demands of the age for free institutions. He 
claims for the pope an arbitratorship in the affairs of the European 
nations, founded on his spiritual authority. The plan which he pro- 
posed for immediate Italian politics was a confederacy of the states ; 
the introduction of reforms ; a religious head, the pope ; a military 
head, the king of Sardinia ; a capital, Rome ; a citadel, Turin ; and, 
above all, a sentiment of nationality in the Italian princes. From the 
publication of the '' Primato'' Gioberti was regarded as the leader 
of the moderate liberal party. Few works have been received with 
greater enthusiasm, or have wrought a greater influence upon the 
public opinion of a nation. It was, however, distrusted by the 
Jesuits, to whorti Gioberti replied in the '' PivlegomenV of the second 
edition (1845). ^^^ i^\6 he removed to Paris. 

The accession of Pius IX, who had studied with favor the writings 



GIOBER TI RETURNS TO ITAL V. 537 

of the exiled philosopher, and the liberal measures that he granted, 
at the same time that constitutional principles were proclaimed by 
the court of Turin, promised to Gioberti the speedy realization of his 
ideal. At the revolution of 1848 he returned to Italy after an ab- 
sence of fifteen years, and was welcomed with a triumph at Turin, 
the city being illuminated in his honor several nights in succession. 
Opposed alike to foreign dominion and to a general republic, his 
scheme was a union of the states, under the supremacy of the 
house of Savoy, and he visited the principal cities of the Peninsula, 
haranguing the troops, the universities, and the populace in favor of 
his views, and was every-where received with enthusiasm. Mazzini, 
the head of "Young Italy," was, however, his rival in popularity and 
influence, and his bitter opponent, and the discord between these 
leaders soon extended to the princes, some of whom withdrew the 
forces which they had sent to aid Sardinia against Austria. After an 
exile of seventeen years Mazzini had also returned to Italy, in the 
early part of 1848. He and Gioberti mutually reproached each other 
with being the greater enemy to Italy than even Austria. The latter, 
elected to the Piedmontese parliament, which assembled on the 8th 
of May, 1848, by both Genoa and Turin, placed himself at the head 
of the constitutionalist royal party in the Cham.ber of Deputies, and 
was appointed its president by acclamation. In July he entered the 
Casati ministry, and, for a moment, thought he saw a triumph of his 
hopes in the vote by which the Lombardo-Venetian provinces were 
annexed to Sardinia. The military reverses experienced by Charles 
Albert quickly dissipated the illusion, and the ministry gave place to 
that of Revel, which accepted an armistice that resembled an aban- 
donment of the war of independence, and therefore was at once 
unpopular. Gioberti united with his opponents of the extreme demo- 
cratic party in efforts to overthrow Revel's ministry, and, at the same 
time, resumed his idea of a political league, and became president of 
the society for an Italian confederation, representatives of which, from 
all parts of Italy, assembled in Turin on the loth of October, 1848. 
Then followed the uprising in Rome and the assassination of 
Count Rossi, the papal minister. The palace of the Quirinal, in 
which Pius IX had taken refuge, was attacked and carried by storm 
by the citizens. The pope escaped in the disguise of a priest on the 
24th of November, and fled to Gaeta, in the Neapolitan territory. 
*'He ran away," says Nicolini, "hoping that Rome would fall into 
anarchy, and so excite the indignation of Europe — speculating, in 
so doing, on the calamities to which he exposed his people. And 



538 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

this man you call a God on earth, the vicegerent of Christ ! Away, 
away with you, impious blasphemer. He ran away and threw him- 
self into the arms of Ferdinand of Naples, that assassin stained with 
the blood of his own subjects." After the flight of Pius IX two 
deputations were sent to Gaeta to request him, in the name of the 
assembly, and in the name of the people, to return and resume 
the reins of government ; but they were repulsed. The pope had 
appointed a commission to govern in his name ; but the persons 
designated for the office refused to act. 

In Venice the republican banner of St. Mark still waved in de- 
fiance of the besieging Austrian army. Manin was again at the head 
of affairs, and the Neapolitan general, Pepe, was intrusted with the 
military command. Order prevailed in the city, and the Venetians 
were united in their efforts to resist the Austrian forces at any cost. 



Fifth Decade, Continued, 1840-1850. 



Chapter X. 

THE R OMAN REP UBLIC VER THR 1 FN— GARIBALDI— ANTONELLL 

WHEN General Garibaldi heard the news of the Italian revolu- 
tion he resolved to leave Montevideo, South America, for his 
native land, and, accompanied by some of his countrymen, he sailed 
in April, 1848. In that brave band was Colonel Anzani, one of the 
most intimate friends of Garibaldi. He was consumptive, but hopes 
were entertained that the genial climate of his loved Italy would at 
least prolong his days. The sight of its shores, however, awakened 
emotions too strong for his frail body, and, while the vessel was 
approaching the city of Nice, where Garibaldi was born, his devoted 
friend passed away. The heroic leader, though almost crushed by 
this bereavement, hastened to the field of battle in Lombardy, and 
offered his services to King Charles Albert, who received him coolly. 
A few days after the king was defeated, and signed an armistice with 
the Austrians ; but, as Garibaldi was not included in it, he refused 
to lay down his arms. Pursued by the Austrians, he fought several 
skirmishes at Como, Varese, Laveno, and other places ; but his 
troops being overwhelmed by numbers, disbanded, and he retired 



THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 539 

into Switzerland ; and, after much suffering-, finally made good his 
retreat across the Po into the papal states, in October, 1848. 

General Zucchi, the papal minister of war, at that time happened 
to be at Bologna, and wrote to Count Rossi, secretary of state under 
Pius IX, that he had ordered two Swiss regiments, which were at 
the service of the pope, to march against Garibaldi, who was then at 
Ravenna, and to throw him and his followers into the sea — meaning, 
probably, to compel them to embark. But before this order was 
executed the pope had fled from Rome, and the popular government 
which undertook to govern the state enrolled Garibaldi and his fol- 
lowers, and gave him a commission to increase his band and protect 
the eastern boundaries of the Roman state against the king of Na- 
ples. A short time afterwards the elections for the Roman Constit- 
uent Assembly occurred, and Garibaldi w^as elected at Macerata, and 
went to Rome to take his seat in the assembly at its opening, on the 
6th of February, 1849. After that day Garibaldi put himself again 
at the head of his troops on the boundaries of Naples, and returned 
with them to Rome when the French had landed at Civita Vecchia. 

After the flight of Pius IX to Gaeta Rome was absolutely with- 
out a government. The Chambers appointed a "Provisional Gov- 
ernment," and declared themselves dissolved. For two months the 
administration of public affairs was conducted by this temporary 
organization ; but it was incapable of prolonging a situation so full of 
danger, and yielding to the earnest solicitations addressed to it from, 
all parts of the states, it convoked the people in the primary assem- 
blies, and appealed to the universal suffrage of the inhabitants for the 
election of a Constituent Assembly. The appeal w^as responded to. 
By the votes of three hundred and forty-three thousand adult male 
persons, out of a total population of two million eight hundred thou- 
sand souls, a Constituent Assembly, consisting of one hundred and 
fifty members, Avas invested with the task of government. The as- 
sembly, at one o'clock on the morning of the 9th of Feburary, after 
an uninterrupted session of fifteen hours, passed that remarkable decree 
w^hich declared the abolition of the secular papacy, and proclaimed 
that portion of Italy, which had hitherto been tho- patrimony of the 
popes, a free and independent republic. The article abolishing the 
secular papacy was passed with only five dissenting voices, and that 
constituting the republic with only eleven dissenting voices, out of 
one hundred and forty-four present. On the loth of February the 
Constituent Assembly appointed an executive committee of three 
citizens, through the medium of whom the government might be 



540 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

carried on until such time as the constitution of the repubhc should 
be fully matured. The citizens appointed to this office, by a ma- 
jority of votes, were Messieurs Armellini, Saliceti. and Montecchi. 
Ministers of the different departments of the public service were at 
the same time appointed. For a period of seven weeks, or from 
the loth of February to the 30th of March, the government of the 
republic was carried on in conjunction with the Constituent Assembly. 
The time approached when all eyes were to be opened to the real 
designs of the French. A crisis was near, when all the charitable 
hopes of the sincerity of their amicable professions were to be dis- 
pelled. Rome was to be attacked by a foreign army for the first time 
since the days of Charles V, in the period of the Reformation, and 
for the second time since that of the Northern invasions. In lookincr 

o 

back for preceding events of the same kind, the mind had but a sin- 
gle step more to make — the attempt by the Gauls. How different 
the state of the world since those times ! How different the condi- 
tion of the city; the mode and means of warfare; the principals 
engaged ; the effect to be anticipated on the world ! Never before 
had the city of Rome been voluntarily deserted by a pope, and 
brought to a state of order and tranquillity by a mere declaration of 
a republic, and become practically and truly a Protestant city. Never 
had she been, in the judgment of the world, more certain to be over- 
awed by a powerful host, and more unable to resist. Deeply inter- 
esting must have been the situation of many a family. 

The negotiations, which had been carried on with the triumvirate 
by M. Lesseps, the French agent, had resulted in nothing but the 
manifest exposure of the double dealing of Louis Napoleon, and a 
display of the integrity, ability, and patriotism of the Romans. 
There was a mixed multitude within the walls ; but most of them 
belonging to the city, or other parts of the Roman states, and many 
of them soldiers who had been engaged in one or more battles in 
other parts of Italy. The whole number of Polanders and other for- 
eigners was trifling. Volunteers had been hourly arriving for several 
weeks; some in regular corps or companies, others in small bands, 
and some alone. Colonel Manara had entered the city at the head 
of his legion of Lombards, raised and paid out of his princely for- 
tune, all which, with his services and his life, he gave, an offering to 
his country. 

The following extract from the Roman Monitore, the official jour- 
nal, shows the character and strength of the Roman army. After 
denying in such terms, and by such arguments as were unanswerable, 



THE ROMAN ARMY. 541 

the calumnious charges against the character and origin of the de- 
fenders of Rome, the Monitore thus enumerated the troops in the 
city: **The army of the repubhc being ten regiments of infantry, 
and two of cavah'y — all of them from the Roman states ; the Medici 
legion of three hundred Tuscans ; the foreign legion of two hundred 
and fifty men — French and Poles; the Italian legion of Garibaldi, 
about two thousand, all except three hundred belonging to the Ro- 
man states; and, finally, several battalions of the Military Guard 
Mobile, some of Rome, some of the provinces. . . . The pre- 
tended foreign banditti, then, who oppress the Roman people, amount 
to one thousand six hundred and fifty men in a city of one hundred and 
fifty thousand inhabitants, and with. fourteen thousand national guards. 
These are the men, too, who, for a month, have repelled thirty thou- 
sand French troops, not only from the city, but from the country- 
seats around it, and defended a circuit of forty miles. The most sol- 
emn denial that can be given to the accumulated falsehoods of our 
enemies is to say to all the people of Europe, ' Look and judge ! 
Assaulted by four armies at once, in the rushing ruin of Italian mis- 
fortunes, the Roman Republic raised her sacred standard on the 
towers of the capitol, and guards the sacred fire of liberty.'" 

From the 29th of April, 1849, '^^^ commander-in-chief of the arms 
of the republic. General Avezzana, who was also the minister of 
war, was fully informed of the enemy's approach by the numerous 
scouting parties whose reports were confirmed by a French prisoner, 
who the same day fell into an ambush of our advance posts. Day 
dawned upon Rome, on the morning of the 30th of April, and 
revealed a scene which no human foresight could have anticipated a 
few weeks before, and which human ingenuity could scarcely have 
imagined, even in its principal features. The whole city was in sol- 
emn expectation of the arrival of a large French force, which was 
known to be on a march from Civita Vecchia, and near enough to 
arrive at the walls in a few hours. Arrangements had been made, 
and publicly announced, to apprise the inhabitants of their first ap- 
pearance in sight, by the striking of bells. Preparations for defense 
had been made, and were still making, by the erection of works in 
various places in the squares and streets to oppose the French, if 
they should enter the walls ; while the troops were prepared to fight 
them from the walls, and the ground outside. The elevated buildings 
and positions were crowded by spectators, some of them foreigners 
of different classes, and from different countries. The French had 
pretended to come as friends and protectors; but persisted in advanc- 



542 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

ing-, even after being assured by the Romans that they neither needed 
nor desired their assistance. The French, then, assuming a tone of 
chsdain, had plainly expressed their belief that the Romans zvoidd not 
fight. The world was waiting with anxiety the result of that day's 
movements; and probably very few men believed that the French 
would meet with any great obstacle. They expected to dine that 
day in Rome, and to remain masters of it as long as they pleased. 

Perhaps no news has ever been more unexpected than that which 
was that day sent from Rome to all parts of the world, that the 
Romans had fought the French gallantly with far inferior forces, for 
several ftours, and driven them twelve miles back toward Civita Vec- 
chia. Such, however, was the surprising truth, and, had not the 
triumvirate peremptorily ordered Garibaldi to pursue them no farther, 
he would have continued to press them Avith the resolution which he 
had formed of driving them into the sea. Among the spectators, 
who wrote accounts of what occurred that day, were several intelli- 
gent men of different nations, who described the defense as conducted 
with superior skill, and performed with the greatest vigor and valor 
by the Roman officers and soldiers. Interesting letters from some of 
these witnesses may be found in the newspapers of different countries 
published soon after, and many concurrent accounts in various other 
publications, particularly Italia del Popolo, a monthly magazine pub- 
lished by the exile patriots. 

On the morning of the 30th of April, the telegraph which gave 
notice of the advance of the enemy's forces announced, at nine o'clock, 
that they were within five miles of Rome, and the minister of war 
sent a captain of the general staff to the cupola of St. Peter's, to 
remain there until the firing should commence, to observe all the 
movements of the French, and discover their numbers and intentions. 
In the mean time, all measures were taken to repel the aggression 
Avith such desperate energy as is inspired by the holiness of right 
■and the justice of the cause. According to the historical record of 
the contest, all access into the city was prevented by strong and 
numerous barricades at all the gates, and in all the principal streets, 
especially on the right side of the Tiber; the bastions rising above, 
crowned with cannon, were prepared to fire upon the enemy, and the 
young Roman army, impatient Avith Avarlike ardor, placed at the dif- 
ferent points Avhere the attack Avas expected, Avas disposed in the 
following order: The first brigade, commanded by General Gari- 
baldi, and composed of the first Italian legion, the battalion of the 
universitA', the battalion of the reduced, the legion of exiles, and the 







^ll;#ilfit;;iil|i!!liiiiiiijii|iii(*l'^ 



544 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

mobilized Finanzieri, occupied, outside of the walls, the whole line 
from the Portese gate to the gate of San Pancrazio ; the second brig- 
ade, composed of two battalions of the mobihzed civic troops, and 
the first light, commanded by Col, Masi, occupied the wall of the 
gates Cavalleggieri, Vatican, and Angelica; and, finally, the third 
brigade, commanded by Col. Savini, and composed of the first and 
second regiments of mounted dragoons, formed the reserve in Piazza 
Navona. The fourth brigade, consisting of the first and second regi- 
ments of the line, commanded by Col. Galletti, was in reserve in the 
Chiesa Nuova and Piazza Cesarini, with all the field cannon, which 
was not in position. General Giuseppe Galletti, commander of Car- 
bineers, and Major Manara, with the Lombard battalion, forming 
separate corps, were held ready to proceed wherever necessity might 
require. 

It Avas evident that the French army, w^hich was composed of 
eight thousand men with two squadrons of cavalry and twelve field- 
pieces, divided in two columns, intended to make a double and 
simultaneous attack at the gates Cavalleggieri and Angelica. In fact, 
about eleven o'clock in the morning, proceeding by Villa Pamfili, 
they occupied two houses, from which they commenced an active fire 
of musketry and artillery against the Cavalleggieri gate. The valiant 
General Garibaldi moved from the gate of San Pancrazio to attack 
them in flank with' all his troops and the university battalion, and 
there commenced a murderous and obstinate battle, in which a hun- 
dred deeds of personal bravery proved that the modern Italians are 
prepared to imitate the ancient glories of their fathers. The French 
made a determined resistance to the attack of Garibaldi, and even 
repulsed their assailants, favored by their superior numbers and by 
their artillery, which they fired briskly. But, being re-enforced by 
the Legion of Exiles, the reduced battalion, the Roman Legion, com- 
manded by Colonel Galletti, and two companies of the first regiment 
of the line, charging simultaneously with the bayonet, they compelled 
the French to retire precipitately, leaving in the hands of the Romans 
about three hundred prisoners, among whom were six officers, Avith 
the commander of a battalion, and a great number of killed. 

While they were fighting thus at San Pancrazio other attacks were 
made on the gardens of the Vatican, and along the entire line from 
the Cavalleggieri gate to that of Santa Marta, where the enemy 
endeavored with all their power to silence the artillery of the Romans, 
and where they made two furious assaults, but were bravely repulsed 
by the Masi Brigade and the Mobilized Civic, assisted in good time 



THE ROMANS VICTORIOUS. 545 

by the brave and ardent Carbineers. At all those points the Roman 
troops sustained the attacks of the French with admirable firmness 
and coolness, and, by fighting with the bravery of veteran soldiers, 
compelled them to make a precipitate retreat. In the reports of that 
encounter it is said that the National Artillery deserve special com- 
memoration, being commanded by Colonel Calandrelli, who lost two 
distinguished officers, besides wounded. The Civic Artillery, who 
rivaled the former in zeal and ardor, also received honorable mention. 

Thus repulsed on the whole line, the French retired first to Brav- 
ella, three miles from the city, whence, after a short halt, they con- 
tinued their retreat towards Castel di Guido. This battle, which 
wonderfully consolidated the foundation of the Italian Republic, 
lasted about seven hours, beginning at ten in the morning and end- 
ing at three in the afternoon, without including, as a part of the 
contest, the little skirmishes which were continued until evening 
between the opposing forces. According to facts collected and the 
statements made by the prisoners, it appears that the French lost 
more than fifteen hundred men, including killed, wounded, and pris- 
oners, while the loss of the Italians was only fifty killed, besides two 
hundred wounded, among whom were many officers, subaltern and 
superior. The Italians fought like heroes, showing that, when the 
love of country is living and strong, the sacrifice of life is sweet. No 
more expressive eulogium on the valor of these brave men, officers, 
soldiers, and people can be found than the following extract from a 
letter, written by General Garibaldi, to the minister of war: 

**A11 the corps which have fought this day are extremely well- 
deserving of the country. A detachment of the line, the first Roman 
Legion, the University Battahon, the Arcioni Legion, the Battalion 
of the Reduced, and the first Italian Legion, have been rivals. The 
chief officers and the soldiers of those corps have merited the grat- 
itude of Italy and the title of valiant men. Many arms, drums, and 
other articles of war have remained in our power." 

In the reports of the scenes that followed the battles, the services 
of the sanitary officers of the ambulances, who were diligent in col- 
lecting the wounded on the field of conflict, are highly commended. 
The ladies in the hospital also performed the noblest ministries of 
charity, and it is ^id that many of the French declared, before dying, 
that they departed from the world with remorse for having fought 
against brother-republicans, while those who were saved denounced 
their government and repeated as often as their countrymen were 
made prisoners, ''Viva la Repiiblica Romana T 



546 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

The people regarded, with sentiments of profound gratitude, the 
brave Italian general, Avezzana. He was impelled by an intense 
love of country to provide for every exigency that arose in the 
discharge of his onerous duties. With a tenacity, alacrity, and per- 
severance which would have been remarkable in a young man, he 
devoted himself to the cause of liberty. From the first approach of 
the enemy, followed by a portion of his staff (for many other officers 
belonging to it were appointed to the gates to direct the corps which 
defended them), General Avezzana visited in succession the places 
attacked, and by his voice and his example excited the enthusiasm 
of the people to the highest degree. 

In this aggressive movement France was sacrificed by a govern- 
ment which was the enemy of the true interests of their country, 
and her people were placed in a humiliating position. She suffered 
immense losses, more moral than material, being deprived of all 
political influence, and having no claim upon Italian sympathy. The 
sons of Italy, convinced of the justice of their cause, had conquered 
the most warlike soldiers, and they were confident, therefore, of their 
ability to contest with glory and success against all the enemies of 
the republic and of Italy. 

Carlo Rusconi gives the following account of the battle of April 
30th: "General Oudinot, who, with eight thousand men and twelve 
field-pieces wished to raze Rome to the ground, ordered a simultane- 
ous attack on Porta Cavalleggieri and Porta Angelica, and occupied 
two houses of Villa Pamfili, from which he opened an active fire of 
musketry and artillery. He presented himself against General Gar- 
ibaldi, one of those men who serve as types in the creations of art. 
Beautiful in person, simple in habits, frugal in living, courageous as 
the heroes celebrated in chivalry, he exerted a fascination on all who 
surrounded him. He had a thousand men about him who would 
have allowed themselves to be killed a thousand times at his slightest 
command. Concise in manner, sparing of words, terrible in wrath, 
you would have said that Byron must have had this extraordinary 
man before his eyes when he delineated his immortal Conrad ; Gar- 
ibaldi, who was not in his element except when balls were whistling 
round his head, moved against the French, attacked them in flank, 
and, supported by Colonel Galletti, discomfited them after many 
hours' fighting. Garibaldi, having seen that the engagement with 
musketry proceeded too slowly, and impatient at that mode of fight- 
ing, made a charge on the French with the bayonet in the most 
destructive manner, and which secured him the victory. Finding 



A SPIRITED PROCIAMATION. 547 

that that method turned out well he never abandoned it in the suc- 
cessive conflicts; and this explains the great number of killed in that 
obstinate war." 

A spirited proclamation was issued to the people of Rome by 
their representatives the day after the first battle : 

•'People, yesterday commenced the entrance of the French into 
Rome. They entered by the Port San Pancrazio as prisoners. To 
us, people of Rome, this does not cause much surprise; but it may 
excite a curious sensation in Paris. That also will be well. 

"People, the attack will be renewed. Let us do as we did yes- 
terday, and especially do not be alarmed if a few batteries should be 
silenced by their cannonade. Reports of cannon startle the ears and 
somewhat shake the houses, but, in fact, when they do not reach 
united masses of people, they destroy but very few victims. 

''We request good shopkeepers to keep at their business con- 
stantly; that will have a good influence and be very convenient at 
the same time. To-day we have need to fortify Pincio (the Pincian 
Mount) ; be there early in goodly numbers, and let us labor 
together." 

The "Committee of the Barricades," or the "Representatives of 
the People," Messrs. E. Carnesuchi, V. Cattabeni, and V. Caldesi 
issued a proclamation. May 2d, two days after the battle: 

"People! General Oudinot promised to pay all, and all in cash. 
Well, let him pay if he can for the tapestries of Raffaele, shot 
through with French bullets ; let him pay for the losses — no, not the 
losses, but the insult cast on Michael Angelo. Napoleon at least 
carried to Paris our masterpieces, and in a certain way Italian genius 
received the admiration of the foreigner as a recompense for the 
conquest. Not so to-day. The French government invade our ter- 
ritory, and carry their singular predilection for Rome so far as to 
wish to destroy her rather than have her exposed to the impatience 
of the terrible (general) Zucchi and the threats of Radetsky and 
Gioberti, who are both at several weeks' distance from the Tiber. 
General Oudinot is more hasty than our enemies. The republic is 
grateful to him. Do you know why? Because, while the imperialists 
occupy Alessuandria without a blow struck by Charles Albert, it is a 
great Italian glory that the people's Rome honorably repels the repub- 
licans of France, whom a black government sends against us after 
calumniating us as robbers and assassins. And the popes? Let us 
preserve in memory of them the cannon-balls which solemnly cele- 
brated the anniversary of the pontifical encyclic. Enough ! Of 



548 " ITAL V STRVGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

kingdoms and triple kings let us talk no more. Let us now think 
of the barricades. Let us think of our honor, which we must fully 
vindicate. Rome, like Scaevola, has still her arm on the burning 
torch, and has sworn an oath. The three hundred of Scaevola routed 
Porsenna. The history of Rome is not yet finished." 

On the same day the following proclamation was published by 
the triumvirate, announcing the approach of the numerous army of 
the king of Naples. Five days later (May 9th) they announced the 
arrival of the Spanish army of five thousand men on the coast. Both 
those armies had been raised in obedience to the call of the pope, as 
well as that of France, which had just been so manfully driven from 
the walls of Rome: 

" Rome, May 2, 1849. 

"Romans! A corps of the Neapolitan army, having covered the 
frontier, threatens to move against Rome. 

"Their intent is to restore the pope as absolute master in tem- 
poral affairs. Their arms are persecution, ferocity, and pillage. 
Among their files lurks their king, to whom Europe has decreed the 
name of the bovibardcr of his oivji subjects ; and around him stand 
most inexorable of the conspirators of Gaeta. 

"Romans! We have conquered the first assailants; we will con- 
quer the second. The blood of the best Neapolitans, the blood of 
our brothers of Sicily, lies on the head of the traitor -king. God, 
who blinds the wicked and strengthens the defenders of right, chooses 
you, O Romans, for avengers. Let the will of the country, and of 
God, be done ! 

"In the name of the rights which belong to every country, the 
name of the duties which belong to Rome in regard to Italy and 
Europe ; in the name of the Roman mothers, who will bless the 
defenders of their children ; in the name of our liberty, our honor, 
and our conscience; in the name of God and the people, — let us 
resist, soldiers and people, capital and province. Let Rome be as 
inviolable as eternal justice. We have learned that to conquer it is 
enough not to fear death." 

The retreat of the French army back to the sea -shore, and the 
armistice which occurred after the first battle of April 30th, afforded 
a remarkably convenient opportunity to attend to the king'of Naples 
and his army, which amounted to about twenty thousand men. The 
following is a description of their position, and the marching of the 
Roman army against them, translated from the beginning of the re- 
port of General Roselli, then commander-in-chief The report 



GENERAL ROSELLES REPORT. 549 

includes the time from his leaving Rome, May i6th, until the occu- 
pation of Velletri, May 20, 1849: 

"The Neapolitan army occupied the position of Albano, Velletri, 
and Palestrina, and had their line of operations directed against Rome. 

' ' The army of the republic left Rome to attack the enemy on 
the 1 6th and 17th, and maneuvered to turn their flanks and cut off 
their communications with the Neapolitan state. The point of di- 
rection of the army was Monte Fortino, whence it might menace all 
the enemy's communications. The Neapolitans had no other way 
but to retreat or come out and attack us in the positions we had 
chosen. The army was composed of five brigades, and one of cav- 
alry, with twelve pieces of cannon. The first brigade, with a squad- 
ron of lancers and two pieces of artillery, commenced the march. 
I left Rome at five o'clock P. M., and took the direction of Zagarola, 
by the road of Campanelle, to expose the right flank as little as 
possible. The march was very rapid ; we reached Zagarola at ten, 
before noon. The vanguard passed the town rapidly, and encamped 
on the hills which defend the roads of Palestrina and Albano. Ac- 
cording to instructions, the next day it was intended to attack Pales- 
trina, and then march on Velletri ; but we learned from our patrols 
the information that the enemy were no longer in Palestrina, having 
concentrated their forces in Velletri. It was then immediately de- 
cided to occupy Monte Fortino. The order had been given to put 
the army in movement before daylight ; but from misunderstanding 
and insufficiency of the means of transport, the arrival of provisions 
having been delayed, our brave soldiers were compelled to lose pre- 
cious time," etc. 

The report of the commander-in-chief is deficient in details ; but 
General Garibaldi, when visiting New York in 1850, gave to his 
friend and admirer, Mr. Theodore Dwight, a full account of the 
battle, and from it we learn that the vanguard, led by Garibaldi, had 
all the fighting to do ; and that the main body of the Roman army, 
under Roselli, did not arrive until the result was really secured. The 
common opinion was therefore confirmed, that the two remarkable vic- 
tories of Palestrina and Velletri were attributable to Garibaldi. "My 
first object," said he, "was to turn the enemy's flank; for I thought 
that if the king of Naples once heard that I was in his rear he would 
be frightened, and so it proved." It appears from his notes of the 
engagements that the Neapolitans occupied the strong positions of 
Tusculum Mountains, with their headquarters at Velletri and their 
advanced guard at Albano. Their extreme left was at Castel Gon- 



550 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

dolfo, and their extreme right a small village. The battle of Pales- 
trina was about ten da\'s before that of Velletri. The troops present 
at the former were, a hundred cavalry, under Colonel IMassina; three 
hundred Bersaglieri, under Colonel INIanara ; two hundred Finanzieri, 
of the Nationals ; two hundred students, mobilized ; and the Italian 
legion of one thousand — in all, about eighteen hundred men. 

Garibaldi was sent out to harass and observe the Neapolitans with 
his division, and was at Palestrina when seven thousand of the enemy 
were sent against him with the intention of attacking him. Between 
the Tusculum Mount and Palestrina is a valley, in one of the projec- 
tions oi the Apennines, in an am.phitheater. When Garibaldi per- 
ceived that the enemy had arrived at Valmontone, he sent a detach- 
ment to observe them. But it was repulsed, with the videttes, and 
retired upon the corps. When the Neapolitans reached Palestrina, 
Garibaldi prepared to defend himself The enemy advanced by two 
roads against Palestrina, when* Garibaldi prepared two companies to 
protect the returning soldiers or to harass the enemy if occasion 
should offer, while he remained in the center with a reserve. The 
Neapolitans extended in line and attacked, but were repulsed on the 
left and the center. The two companies on the right were driven 
back, when Garibaldi, being victorious in other parts, proceeded with 
the reserve to the right, and the rout of the enemy was then com- 
pleted. A strong body of royal Swiss troops, in the pay of Bomba, 
was present. The republicans being destitute of cavalry, and night 
being at hand, the wrecks of Bomba's troops were saved. From 
Palestrina Garibaldi returned to Rome. 

A few days after he departed from that city with the Roman 
armv and was in the vanGTuard, havino; under his orders the First 
Italian Legion of eleven hundred men ; the third of the line eight 
hundred, fifty cavalry, and two light guns. At Valmontone he 
received advices that the Neapolitans v\-ere sending back their bag- 
gage and heavy artillery, and he therefore concluded that they were 
retreating, and pressed forward, sending notice to the principal corps. 
At Monte Fortino he received more positive information and contin- 
ued to advance with haste. About eight o'clock, A. M. he was in 
sight of Velletri, which was on the road, and two miles distant. He 
then discovered the enem}''s cavalry in ecJiellon, on the Appian Wa}% 
to protect the retreat of their army, for which they were preparing. 
The main body of the Neapolitan army was then at Velletri, and as 
soon as Garibaldi's corps was discovered by them the Neapolitans 
moved to attack it. 



THE NEAPOLITANS' DEFEAT. 55 1 

He drew up the third of the hne in ecJiellon by companies near 
the road, which was among hills covered with vineyards to protect 
his retreat in case of necessity, and to act as a reserve in case the 
enemy should attack. He placed the First Italian Legion on both 
sides of the road, in the best position he could, and thus awaited the 
assault of the enemy, leaving two companies in column in the road 
itself. The cavalry and artillery he placed in positions adapted to be 
most serviceable. The enemy attacked, but all their attempts were 
fruitless. They had many killed, and were finally compelled to shut 
themselves up in the city on the defensive. Garibaldi's corps alone 
was too weak to prevent the retreat of the enemy, which was finally 
effected by night. 

The principal corps of the Roman army,* of seven thousand men 
under Roselli, arrived late and tired with their march. An attempt, 
however, was made to attack the city in front by charging at the 
head of the First Roman Legion with the battalion of artillery placed 
in a good position upon the road. The Neapolitans sustained the 
positions of the city, in which they remained the rest of the day. 
The republicans took positions in order to renew the attack the next 
day ; but in the morning the Neapolitans retreated and disappeared 
from Velletri. 

These bold and successful operations, so briefly described, were 
of the highest importance in their results, both by driving back the 
enemy, by encouraging the republicans, and by adding to their repu- 
tation. The rout of the Neapolitans was so decisive that they gave 
no further annoyance, and never appeared again during the war. As 
for the poor Spanish army, which had landed on the coast in obedi- 
ence to the call of the unfortunate pope, they did nothing but issue a 
few bombastic proclamations, and kept themselves out of harm's way. 

The French, in the mean time, were preparing to take decisive 
measures against Rome. The wounded, whom they had left behind 
them on the 30th of April, had been tenderly nursed by the Roman 
ladies, who had volunteered to attend at the hospitals, and three or 
four hundred prisoners, had been harangued in the Corso by the 
commander-in-chief, addressed as brother-republicans in the name of 
the government and people, and dismissed without exchange or 
parole, with open gates, to return to Civita Vecchia. On their arrival 
there, however, full of their praises of the noble Romans, they were 
immediately shipped for France for fear of their influence among the 
troops. The French army soon moved in great force for Rome with 
heavy artillery and all preparations for a siege. But their first step 



552 ITAL V ST/^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Avas to violate the amnesty by suddenly attacking the outposts the 
night before the time limited by the armistice, and while they were 
almost unprotected. 

In the Monitore Romano, of June 8, 1849, General Garibaldi pub- 
lished an account of the conflict with the French at Villas Corsini 
and Vascello on the third of the month, and from his report we learn, 
first of all, the topography of the locality. On leaving the Bastion 
the ground on the right rises a little in the direction of the Villa 
Vascello; and on the left forms, by a gentle descent, a small valley, 
which leads towards the spot where the French were encamped. 
From the gate of San Pancrazio a street leads directly to the Vascello, 
a distance of two hundred and fifty paces, and then divides. The 
principal branch descends on the right along the garden of the Villa 
Corsini, surrounded by high walls, and goes on to join the great road 
to Civita Vecchia. Another, flanked by hedges, leads directly to the 
Villa Corsini, which is three hundred paces in front of the Villa 
Vascello. And the third road turns to the left and is prolonged, 
like the first, by the wall of the garden of the Villa Corsini. The 
Villa Vascello is a large and massive fabric of three stories, sur- 
rounded by gardens and walls. In front of the villa, at a distance 
of fifty paces, is a small house, from which firing may be made against 
the windows of the Villa Corsini, On the left road, about one hun- 
dred paces beyond the point of separation of the streets, are two 
small houses, one behind the garden of Villa Corsini, the other 
twenty paces before, on the left of the street. 

The Villa Corsini, situated on the highest part of the ground, 
commands all the neighborhood. It is surrounded by a garden and 
high wall. The position of the villa is very strong, and more so 
because, wishing to attack it without showing any preparation of 
approach beforehand, it is necessary, while passing the Concello, 
which is at the foot of the garden, to bear the concentrated fire which 
the enemy, defended and covered by the hedges and vases, or within 
the villa itself, make upon that point at which the garden walls meet 
at an acute angle. The ground is also very descending, and, besides, 
the Villa Corsini is very favorable to a body of troops occupying it, 
because, declining and covered with groves and crossed by deep 
streets, they can concentrate their reserves in security from the fire 
of the Romans when the cannon compel them to abandon the house. 

The first attack made by the Italian Legion was against the posi- 
tions Corsini and Quattro Ventri, which had been abandoned by the 
Roman troops, because surprised, betrayed, and overpowered by the 



A SE VERE ENGA CEMENT. 5 5 3 

great number of the enemy. The attack was made with the bayonet 
without firing- a single shot; the Legion sustained for about three 
quarters of an hour the whole weight of the enemy ; and Colonels 
Daverio and Massina and Commandant Peralta were killed, and most 
of the officers wounded. The Manara Bersaglieri arrived at that mo- 
ment, and, throwing themselves into the garden, vigorously attacked 
the French even under the walls of the villa. Here fell Captain 
Dandolo and many soldiers, and many officers and soldiers were 
wounded. But the houses on the left were captured by the Romans. 
The French had ceased their progressive work, and the Vascello, 
strongly occupied, poured on them a fire of grape-shot. The brave 
Roman artillerymen very soon disturbed the enemy in the Villa Corsini. 

The French Tiraglieurs were driven from the garden and hedges 
by the Manara Bersaglieri advancing from the Casini on the left, and 
by the Italian Legion from the Vascello. A very warm fire was kept 
up by both parties. The French, however, were no more able, 
though re-enforced by two pieces of artillery, to take from the Roman 
troops the position held with so much valor. The artillery fired 
upon the Villa Corsini so vigorously that the French were compelled 
to retreat after setting it on fire; while the cannon in the right Bas- 
tion and Bersaglieri, thrown forward of the Vascello, attacked with 
great ardor the opposing forces, who were in the Casino Quattro Ven- 
tri, and who occupied numerous small adjacent houses, from which 
they made a very heavy but useless fire. Two companies of the 
Manara Bersaglieri were then sent towards the French camp on the 
left to annoy the enemy hidden among the vines. A very severe 
conflict continued all day, always to the advantage of the Roman 
troops, who (the Manara Bersaglieri and Italian Legion) were able, 
even a second time, to charge the French beyond the Villa Corsini. 

Towards evening several companies of the third regiment of the 
line were sent to re-enforce the Romans in the Vascello, and the 
Medici Legion was sent to relieve the Manara Bersaglieri in the 
Casini on the left. The Villa Corsini and the Casino Quattro Ventri 
were reduced almost to dust, the cannon being remarkably well 
directed under the supervision of the brave Lieutenant-colonel Ludo- 
vico Calendrelli. The French were defeated at every point, the Ma- 
nara Bersaglieri and the Italian Legion again and again charging them 
breast to breast. The first company of Manara Bersaglieri threw 
itself into the Villa Girand and made many French prisoners. The 
Italian Legion several times advanced up to Villa Valcntini. At 
evening the Medici Legion vigorously charged the cnem}' among the 



554 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

vineyards on the left. "The night came," says General Garibaldi, 
"leaving to us the field of battle, the enemy admiring our valor, and 
our troops desirous of renewing the battle which had been so cour- 
ageously fought the first day. This they did on the following morn- 
ing. All the officers, and especially the superior and subaltern 
officers, whom I wish to distinguish, are these here recorded, because 
martyrs and dying as brave men : Colonels Massina, Daverio, and 
Ramorino ; Adjutant-major Peralta ; Lieutenants Bonnet, Cavalleri, 
and Grassi ; Captains Dandolo and David, Lieutenant Scarani, Colonel 
Poline, Lieutenants Larete and Gazzaniga." 

On the night of the 25th of June the French made an attack to 
dislodge the Roman troops from the Casino, outside the Gate San 
Pancrazio, but were repulsed with great loss. The following official 
report of that action, from General Garibaldi to Roselli, the general- 
in-chief, appeared in the Monitore Romano of June 26th: 

"Citizen General-in-Chief, — One hour after midnight the enemy 
tried a second attack and assaulted our right flank, breaking in 
towards the Vascello, which is under the command of Lieutenant- 
colonel Medici, and on the left side of the Casetta, which is under 
the command of Major Cenni. With lively pleasure I communicate 
to you how heroically our troops sustained themselves and powerfully 
repulsed them. The very deep mist which involved every thing ren- 
dered the conflict the more interesting. Our soldiers gave proofs of 
their diligence and love for the cause. Many dead, who still lie 
unburied on the enemy's ground, bear them witness. And the high- 
est encomium is due in general to the detachments Medici and Melara, 
and to the Manara Bersaglieri on the right wing, and on the left to 
Major Cenni, of the staff of the division ; and, of the Arcioni Le- 
gion, to Captains Joanny, Baily, and Romagnori ; First Lieutenant 
Carlotti ; Second Lieutenant Belloughi, and to all the soldiers of that 
corps. Of the Regiment of the Union, Captain Colombani and 
Lieutenant Dezzi distinguished themselves. The soldiers are the 
same as those who so lately defended the Casetta, near the Vascello. 
And the detachment of the line should not be forgotten, commanded 
by Sub-Lieutenant Ferrandi of the third regiment, who showed 
themselves openly and intrepid under fire. When the firing had 
ceased, in consequence of the repulse of the enemy, there was an 
almost perfect silence, interrupted only by a few exchanges of shot, 
chiefly hartnless. Nothing important occurred before daybreak, and 
things still remain as yesterday. Salutation and brotherhood ! 

"General Headquarters, Morning of June 26, \84gy 



THE FALL OF R OME. 5 5 5 

The same number of the Monitore Romano contains the following 
extract from the Paris Constitutionel, stating the reason why General 
Oudlnot had not entered Rome: ''It is wrong to believe that Rome 
can be, in a few days, rescued from the state of defense in which it 
has been placed by the foirigncrs zvho occupy' it. Even if the possi- 
bility of success in an attack by main force were demonstrated with 
the use of all the means authorized by war, other considerations 
should prescribe the greatest circumspection to our general-in-chief. 
In reality, the order to attack, which was sent to General Oudinot, 
contains an express recommendation to adopt the most complete 
measures to avoid the exposure of the monuments of the city, which 
are now placed under the safeguard of France. Considerations of 
humanity are no less in the plans of our generals who, in no case, 
will confound the Roman population with the bands of adventurers 
who ruin and oppress it. For all these reasons the besieging forces 
will confine themselves to the attack of exterior works, and of 
positions from which the city and the monuments can not receive 
any injury." 

The editors of the Monitore Romano, after stating that other jour- 
nals of the French government contained a similar explanation, pub- 
lished this reply: "This, it can not be denied, is an ingenious expe- 
dient to justify the slowness of the brilliant siiccesses of Oudinot under 
the walls of Rome. It is not a posthumous expedient, but a witty 
one invented after the act. The general had first to think how to let 
his bomb-shells by hundreds fall, not upon the foreigners who defend 
Rome, but upon the heads of the harmless population whom he has 
come to protect. He must think first how to ruin the edifices of Raf- 
faelle, the Aurora of Guido, the temple of Fortuna Virilis, and, only 
yesterday, the most beautiful fresco of Poussin in the palace Cos- 
taguli, now irreparably lost, because it has never been copied or 
engraved. But this does not prevent the Roman monuments from 
being placed binder the safeguard of the French arms ! This did not 
prevent them from having within their scope the defense of the 
liberty of the people, oppressed by foreigners ! Hypocrites and 
wretches! you do not possess even the brutal frankness of Austria!" 

On the 30tli of June Rome was captured by the French, and, 
according to the testimony of eye-witnesses, terrible scenes were 
enacted. The bombardment, which continued three hours, was so 
incessant and destructive that it seemed about to bury the whole city 
in ruins. The inhabitants were all in the streets. Here was seen a 
tender mother, with her little ones in her arms, running first in one 



556 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

direction and then in another, to find a safe retreat ; and there another 
making her own breast a shield for her children ; while boys were 
often seen trying to carry on their shoulders the corpses of their 
beloved fathers. Every-where could be heard the voices of sorrow- 
ing women lamenting, not for themselves, but for the loss of those 
more dear. A few aged and gray-headed persons kneeled on the 
steps of churches, praying to the Lord to give the heartless pontiff a 
different mind ; while the more resolute ran to where the danger was 
greatest, among the falling bomb-shells. Shepherds drove away 
their flocks to find some secure place ; and, as if the animals them- 
selves shared the feelings of men, the air was filled with their mourn- 
ful cries. An e}^e-witness of these thrilling incidents says: "In 
one spot in the Piazza di Venezia (the square of Venice) a shell burst, 
and killed three persons. A woman was crossing the bridge of Six- 
tus, when a large cannon shot took off her head. While standing 
within a few steps of the Golonna Square I saw, in a short time, two 
convoys pass, carrying a great number of wounded, persons to the 
hospital of San Giacomo ; and immediately afterwards several others 
arrived with biers and litters, on the same melancholy errand. Wher- 
ever I went within, I heard long and painful lamentations from unfor- 
tunate sufferers, whose limbs had been cut or torn by the swords or 
balls of the enemy. But amidst all I heard not a single exclamation 
against the new government, though a thousand against the unbri- 
dled vengeance of the pontiff, who had condemned his children to 
such cruel torments." 

Fires broke out in different parts of the city, and the courageous 
Roman firemen ran to extinguish them as soon as possible. ' ' Has- 
ten," said a bystander to an old man of the common people, who 
seemed resolved to remain in the Piazza Navona ; "hasten, I pray 
you, in the name of God!" "Let me stay," he replied; "what is 
there for me to do in this world ? Yesterday the French hung my 
son, who was in the battalion of the university ; and this night my 
daughter, the only creature left to me, went to get water to quench 
my thirst, when she was struck to the ground by a shot." The dis- 
consolate father sobbed while he spoke, but, in a moment, became 
silent and motionless. The man who had been conversing with him, 
thinking that he might restore him, took him by the hand ; but he 
breathed only a few seconds, and then died. The young student 
was found in a villa outside the city walls, hung to a beam, and 
the old man's statement was confirmed. A few days before the 
French had thrown out of the windows of the house occupied by 



GARIBALDI'S LAST REPORT. 557 

them several other young men of the university who had fallen into 
their hands. 

As the further defense of the city was impossible, without expos- 
ing it to destruction, the Romans resolved to abandon the struggle. 
The French were within the walls, and could not be dislodged. 
They were, indeed, so strong that the Romans were compelled at 
least to leave their line, and retire to the other side of the Tiber, 
which General Avezzana and Garibaldi proposed to defend obsti- 
nately. But the inhabitants feared that this movement would result 
in the speedy ruin of their houses by the French cannon and shells, 
and, after consulting with the assembly, the decision was reached, 
that all resistance should cease. Garibaldi now perceived that his 
work was done in the capital ; and, with feelings which we may in 
some degree realize, he was determined not to witness the disgrace 
brought upon his noble cause, nor to leave his gallant companions to 
be disarmed and remain useless to the country. He felt confident 
that many of them would follow wherever he would lead, and at that 
time, more than at any other, he was moved by an impulse to lead 
where only courageous men would follow. He thought of the city of 
Venice, then besieged by the Austrians, by sea and land, and in- 
dulged the flattering hope of being able to reach her and assist her 
brave defenders. Although a wide extent of country intervened, and 
the enemy could send a far superior force to oppose him, yet he was 
not discouraged, and resolved to go. 

The following official report of General Garibaldi was the last that 
he issued in Rome, and therefore is of historic interest: 

"General Headquarters, San Pietro in Montorio, > 

Jtdy /, i84g. ) 

"Yesterday was a day fruitful in deeds- of arms: losses and ad- 
vantages. Yesterday Italy counted new martyrs. Colonel Manara 
leaves a void in the republican files difficult to be supplied. Young, 
of surprising merit and valor, he was struck by an enemy's ball, 
while courageously defending the Villa Spada against an enemy very 
superior. America yesterday gave, with the blood of a valiant son, 
Andrea Aghiar, a pledge of the love of liberal men of all countries 
for our fair and unfortunate Italy. Lieutenant-colonel Medici distin- 
guished himself by skill and courage, in the defense of the first bastion 
on the right of the gate of San Pancrazio, and of the position Savo- 
relli. He was distinguished in the company of the brave Colonel 
Ghilardi, commandant of that line. The Medici legion apd the first 
of the line fought like lions. They several times repelled assaults 



558 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

in the breach, and paid with the precious hTe of many young men, 
the hope of the country, the sacred debt of all. Part of the Manara 
legion fought at the point of the bayonet with their accustomed cour- 
age, in union with the companies of the regiment Massi. The Ital- 
ian legion, under the command of Colonel Manara, showed itself 
worthy of its fame in the defense of the Villa Spada. The Third of 
the Line, in defending the positions which were confided to it, cov- 
ered itself with glory." 

The Constituent Roman Assembly, in their session of July 1st, 
adopted, with unanimity, and viva voce, the Constitution of the Re- 
public. By this act it fulfilled the essential part of its high mission ; 
and it also decreed, on motion of the Deputy Agostini, that the law 
be engraved on two marble tables and placed in the capitol, as an 
eternal monument of the unanimous will of the people, legitimately 
represented by their deputies. The Monitore Romano of July 2d, in its 
comments, said: "Woe to him who shall touch those tables of the 
new civil and political compact which the Roman people form with 
themselves before God, in the view of all civilized nations ! This com- 
pact has been sealed with the blood of martyrs, with the blood of all 
those who, following the voice of their hearts, hastened to Rome, as 
to the ancient mother, to defend the honor and liberty of Italy, and to 
lay the first stone of her future and inevitable independence. What- 
ever may be the present results of measures which foreign supremacy 
is preparing, the assembly, the people, the national guard, and the 
Roman army have the consciousness of having fulfilled their duty." 

Before dissolving the solemn session, the assembly decreed a 
funeral in the basilica of St. Peter, to all the heroes who sacrificed 
their lives for the country, and for the republic, under the walls of 
Rome. As to the wounded, as no less worthy of honor, and in need 
of care, the assembly voted a hospital, and appropriated for the pur- 
pose one of the national palaces. Finally, that nothing might be 
wanting to complete the harmony which always prevailed among the 
people in that conflict, and also reigned in the Constituent Assembly, 
the latter passed the following resolution of thanks to those citizens 
who, in the last moments of the republic, bravely fought to save it : 
"The Constituent Assembly, in the name of God and the people, 
decrees: The triumvirs Armellini, Mazzini, and Saffi have deserved 
well of the country." This was signed by Allocaletti, President, and 
also by Santarges, Cocchi, Zambianchi, and Pinnacchi, on the ist 
of July. 

On the same day the triumvirs, Giuseppe Mazzini, Carlo Armel- 



TRIBUTES OF RESPECT 559 

lini, and Aurelio Saffi,issued the following proclamation: "Romans! 
The triumvirate is voluntarily dissolved. The Constituent Assembly 
will communicate to you the names of our successors. The assembly, 
deeply affected, after the act of yesterday performed by the enemy, 
with a desire to deliver Rome from extreme dangers, and to prevent 
the fruitless sacrifice of any more lives for the defense, have decreed 
the cessation of hostilities. The men who were in the right during 
the contest could not well continue to govern in the new times which 
are preparing. The mandate sent to them has ceased de facto, and 
they hasten to resign it to the hands of the assembly. 

"Romans! Brothers! you have written a page which will remain 
in history a proof of the power and energy which slept in you, and 
of your future deeds, of which no force can deprive you. . . , As- 
sembled under the republican banner, you have redeemed the honor 
of the common country, elsewhere contaminated by deeds of evil 
men and overthrown by monarchical impotency. Your triumvirs, 
becoming simple citizens among you, carry with them the highest 
comfort in their consciousness of pure intentions, and the honor of 
having their names associated with your bravest deeds. 

"A cloud is rising to-day over your prospects and you. It is the 
cloud of an hour. Remain firm in the consciousness of your recti- 
tude and with the faith in which many armed apostles among you 
have died. God, who has treasured up their blood, is surely for 
you. God wills that Rome shall be great ; and she will be. Yours 
is not a defeat ; it is a victory of the martyrs to whom the tomb is 
the passage to heaven. . . . Viva la Rcpiiblica Ronianar' 

Another tribute to the bravery of the republican troops was paid 
by General Avezzana : " Romans! The last word of the minister of 
war is a mark of admiration of your valor, and an urgent request to 
you to persevere in the sacred enterprise of the redemption of Italy. 
Your martyrs died with this name upon their lips. Difficulties of 
your condition — adversity of destiny, diplomatic snares, deceitful 
words — let them never arrest you. The legacy of the valiant who 
harve fallen for you on the walls of the Eternal City is holy and 
inviolate. They have reopened Roman history. Do you continue 
Its fame." 

While the republican government was in possession of Rome the 
edifice of the Inquisition, called " Sant ' Ufizio," (the Holy Office) 
was opened to public view, and unexpected secrets and horrors re- 
vealed to the world. It had been closed for three hundred years ; 
but now was freely entered and examined by thousands of the peo- 



560 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

pie. De Boni has \vriLten the most complete account of it, and the 
perusal of it should convince those intelligent Americans who profess 
to believe that such an abominable institution never existed in Rome 
or elsewhere. The Roman republicans not only exposed the secrets 
of this infamous den, but they decreed its abolishment and the erec- 
tion of a monument to its bloody deeds, after they had established 
on the ruins of popery a system of freedom, on the principles of 
Christianity, for which they deserve the high honor which history 
must inevitably award to them. 

The sentiment of the Roman people in that crisis was reflected 
by the newspapers, which possess, and must ever retain, a peculiar 
interest. The following striking passage is from the Moiiitore Romano: 
' ' We have said it, and we repeat it, and we will repeat it always : 
The republic arose in Rome by universal suffrage ; rose on the ruins 
of the throne of the popes, which the cry of all Europe, the male- 
dictions of all civilized nations, and the spirit of the Gospel had 
crumbled into dust. To-day, when on that throne, stigmatized by 
civilization, flows the blood of so many victims, who will dare to raise 
it again? A mountain of corpses shuts up to the pontiff the way 
to that throne; and to ascend it again, the white stole of the priest 
must be dyed with human blood ! Can the pope, like the tyrant, sit 
upon a seat of bayonets ? But it is not in the power of France, it is 
not in the power of Europe conspiring, to restore the pope to the 
minds of citizens, after the enormous events which have occurred. 
The scepter of the pope is morally broken forever." 

Before his departure from Rome Garibaldi collected his troops, 
and addressed them in his Spartan speech, which has been so much 
admired ; then, proceeding out of the gates, followed by a consider- 
able portion of his soldiers, he took his course across the Campagna, 
his wife accompanying him on horseback, notwithstanding all his 
affectionate remonstrances. He had resolved to make a desperate 
effort rather than submit to the enemy ; and his retreat from Rome 
to the little port of Cesenatico, on the Adriatic, while pursued by an 
Austrian and a French army, was characterized by wonderful bold- 
ness, skill, and judgment. His route lay through Forli and Canta- 
lupo to Terni ; then declined to the left to Todi, Capretto, and Orvi- 
eto, where the French troops showed themselves ; then on to the 
frontier of Tuscany — after which they passed Arezzo, and, crossing a 
mountain, reached Cisterna ; then, passing on to Borgo, Santangelo 
in Vado, and Montefeltro, he arrived at San Marino near the close 
of July, and left there on the night of the 31st for Cesenatico, 



GARIBALDI AND ANNA, 561 

where they embarked in several boats and sailed for Venice. Sev- 
eral of these were captured or sunk, and others driven to the shore, 
among- which last was that which contained Garibaldi, his wife, Bassi, 
Cicerouacchio, and his two sons. 

Garibaldi, in a noble tribute to his wife, refers to their perilous 
retreat. "I determined to try my fortune out of Rome," he says, 
"when the venerated city Avas forced to succumb to the arms of 
Louis Napoleon, who had become its conqueror. Anna wished to 
share the dangers of the enterprise. I objected ; but vain were all 
remonstrances ! Her feeble health she treated as nothing. Had I, 
then, no longer any desire to have her with me, and endeavored to 
leave her behind me under various pretexts? She asked me whether 
I doubted her courage. Had I not had proofs enough ? Oh, that 
delightful life in camp ! The magnificent cavalcade ! And the com- 
bats — they were delightful to her. And as for fatigue, privations, 
and mishaps, what are they to one whose happiness is in the heart? 
Anna ! You were identified in feeling with Italy, and happy in the 
hope of the redemption of the people. She did not go armed ; she 
was not spotted with blood ; but her intrepid countenance would an- 
imate and put to blush even a coward. And truly, under the walls 
of Rome, and beyond them, brave men had fallen, and many lay 
mutilated on the bed of grief and despair in the hospitals, or weeping 
at home over the failure of our exertions. 

"The right of the noble column of Velletri was degraded by in- 
truders ; and the few good men were discouraged by the vandalism 
of dissension and the cowardice of some. The imposing presence of 
the American amazon did not avail at San Angelo in Vado and San 
Marino to stop the fugitives. The word "cowards," uttered by her 
in contempt, was borne away by the wind, and no longer wounded 
the ears of men who had lost their spirit. Ah ! I must recall the 
glorious fields of San Antonio, to forget the disgrace of San Marino. 
Yet we happened to have in our front an enemy more timid than 
ourselves. 

"But, Anna! aland of slavery contains your precious remains. 
Italy will make your grave free ; but what can restore to your chil- 
dren their incomparable mother? At San Marino she had symptoms 
of a dangerous disease, and I insisted that she should remain there. 
But all in vain ! The increasing dangers did not diminish her resolu- 
tion to go. At Cisnatico, where we labored all night to effect the 
departure of the boats designed to transport the troops to Venice, 
Anna, seated on a rock, sadly contemplated our wearisome toil. She 



5 62 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT, 

embarked ; and the time spent on board was one of continual suffer- 
ing. She landed, exhausted, on the beach of Mesola, and was 
hardly able to walk. In vain she flattered herself that the land 
U'ould restore her to health. The land ! It had nothing to give 
her but a grave. 

''But, Italy, thou hast the ashes of Dante, the most celebrated 
of Italians. Receive the bones of the American amazon, the martyr 
of Italian libert}', and place them near the ashes of your great men, 
and under their protection. And you will take part in the pious 
deed, all you Italians who ever knew her. Every friend of our 
country will bless her and the orphan children. And they and I will 
implore the benediction of God upon you, and the remembrance, not 
only of Italy, but of the New World, their birthplace and her own. 
Soil of generous men, press lightly on the grave of the brave daughter 
of America. And, O God, Protector of the Innocent, preserve the 
children of the martyr and the prescript ! And my sons, when you 
are asked, Where are your parents? say, We are orphans for Italy. 
Yet ever love Italy; for she is unhappy indeed." 

After the death of his beloved wife, who was buried in a secret 
grave, known only to himself. Garibaldi alone remained alive of the 
brave individuals who had been driven ashore by the Austrian squad- 
ron near the mouth of the River Po. The Roman tribune, with his 
two sons, retreated to the neighboring marshes, and all pf them were 
probably murdered by the Austrians. The escape of Garibaldi him- 
self seems almost miraculous. He succeeded in crossing Italy in the 
midst of watchful enemies, and reached Genoa in safety, but was 
soon compelled to leave Piedmont. The king of Sardinia offered 
him the choice between prison and exile ; and, preferring the latter, 
Garibaldi sailed for Tunis, but through the intrigues of the French 
consul that Algerian city refused to receive him. He then proceeded 
to America, and spent several months in New York, and vicinity, 
recruiting his health, which his long and extraordinary series of labors, 
privations, and sufferings had rendered feeble. He also engaged in 
humble daily labor for his subsistence, working for the most of the 
time in the candle manufactory of his countryman and friend, Signor 
Meucci, on Staten Island. He declined the honors of a public 
reception in New York, and earnestly advised his fellow-exiles to 
reject all offers of pecuniary aid from others while they were able to 
earn their own living by any kind of labor, however severe or humble. 
Garibaldi subsequently made several voyages in the Pacific Ocean as 
commander of merchant-vessels ; and, desiring to be near his native 



HUGH BASSL 563 

land, he departed from America and returned to the island of Mad- 
dalina, which Hes off the coast of Italy and adjacent to the islet 
of Caprera. 

Among the martyrs of Italy who sacrificed their lives in behalf 
of the republic of Rome, in 1849, Garibaldi mentions in the highest 
terms of praise the names of Luigi Carniglia, Antonio Elio, and 
Hugh or Ugo Bassi. The latter was born in the same town, was 
of the same age, and of the same monastic order as Gavazzi. He 
was a poet, a painter, and a musician, and excelled in each of these 
departments of genius ; but his greatest merit was as a preacher. 
As a devoted religious counselor he was found in the republican 
army, exposing himself to danger, and twice receiving wounds. On 
one occasion he was taken prisoner by the French, who afterwards 
released him. This patriotic priest accompanied Garibaldi in his 
battles and on his celebrated retreat after the fall of Rome. He left 
San Marino in company with his leader, embarked in the same boat 
with him on the Adriatic, and was one of the few of those who 
escaped the Austrian squadron by landing on the Italian shore ; but 
he was soon after captured by the Austrian troops, taken to Bologna, 
and sentenced by a military tribunal to be shot, on a false accusation 
of having borne arms against the emperor. The canon law prohib- 
ited the execution of a priest, and in order to avoid the infringement 
of this statute the Inquisition deprived him of the dignity of the 
priesthood, in accordance with one of their rules, by skinning the 
palms, forefingers, and thumbs of both hands. Pretending to have 
thus divested him of his sacred character, his enemies delivered him 
him over as a layman to the ferocious hordes of Corzkowski, who 
made short work with him. **The scene," says Nicolini, "was most 
touching and affecting. He walked composedly to the side of his 
grave. He raised his beautiful black eyes to heaven and exclaimed : 
* I die without remorse ; I die for my God and my country. Viva 
Gesu ! viva 1 ' It — ' Six homicidal bullets prevented his uttering 
the whole name of his beloved Italy, and he went to finish it in the 
bosom of Christ." 

While Rome had surrendered to the French, and Austria had the 
control of the northern part of Italy, the brave Venetians remained 
independent. General Haynau, who operated against their city, in 
vain summoned the president, Daniel Manin, to surrender; he also 
scorned to entertain the overtures for negotiation made by Radetsky 
in the beginning of May, 1849, notwithstanding the critical condition 
of the city. After a severe bombardment Fort Malagkera, one of 

37 



564 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

the forts outside of Venice, fell into the hands of the Austrians on 
the 26th of May; but Manin, encouraged by the victories of the 
Hungarians over their common enemies, still held out, though the 
inhabitants were exposed to the incessant fire of the Austrians and 
to the pangs of famine and distress, while the cholera raged in the 
city. It was not until Venice was completely surrounded by the 
enemy, its provisions entirely exhausted, and the news of Gorgey's 
surrender had arrived, that Manin consented to negotiate. On the 
23d of August he agreed to a capitulation, after having secured favor- 
able terms, which granted an amnesty to all that had taken part in 
the conflict except forty of the most conspicuous defenders of the 
city, including, of course, himself, who were compelled to withdraw 
before the entrance of Radetsky, on the 30th of August. Manin 
thus had the honor of continuing the contest long after it had ceased 
in other parts of Italy, while his administrative genius and unselfish 
wisdom received universal admiration. 

After the arrival of Pius IX, at Gaeta, on the southern frontiers, 
in the latter part of November, 1848, he inaugurated a rival govern- 
ment. His secretary of state, Giacomo Antonelli, was the controll- 
ing power in the papal administration. This distinguished leader 
was born on the 2d of April, 1806, and began his brilliant career 
under Pope Gregory XVI, who observed his extraordinary admin- 
istrative talents, and successively promoted him to the prelacy, the 
magistracy, the office of delegate to Ovieto, Viterbo, and Macerato, 
and that of Minister of Finance. Upon the elevation of Pius IX, in 
1846, Antonelli was promoted to a still higher position. He was a 
layman, having ** distinguished himself so well," said the witty M. 
About, "that he escaped by divine aid, the sacrament of orders. 
He has never said mass; he has confessed to no one; I will not affirm 
he has confessed himself" It is not necessary to receive priestly 
tonsure in order to become a Roman cardinal. This is required of 
the representatives of the fifty principal churches in the ''Eternal 
City" called "Cardinal Priests." Besides these nominal chief eccle- 
siastics there are six "Cardinal Bishops" who derive their titles from 
the six inferior bishops of the former States of the Church. The 
remaining fourteen seats can be occupied, if need be, by laymen or 
by persons who have received only the first stages of priestly ordi- 
nation. They are called "Cardinal Deacons," deriving their titles 
from the fourteen rioni, or wards of the city. Antonelli belonged to 
this last class. He might have sought and obtained holy orders, but 
he possessed no abilities of a theological or religious kind. Hence 



GIACOMO ANTONELLI. 



565 



the sacerdotal office was not desirable to him. After being assigned 
a place in the consistory on the 12th of June, 1847, barely a year 
after the elevation of Pius IX to the papal throne, Antonelli, from 
conviction or from policy, adapted himself to the liberal sentiments 
then fw-evailing in the Vatican and throughout the country. 




ANTONELLI. 



Shrewd, affable, energetic, it was not long before Antonelli had 
made himself almost absolute. In another year he had become 
prime minister, and no one took a more important part than he in 
the stirring events of 1848-9. This crisis tried his diplomatic skill. 
Yielding to the popular will the papal government made a progress- 
ive step and then halted. It seemed as if the position of the papacy 
would hasten the downfall of monarchy every-where. Antonelli was 
alarmed at the situation, and the court of Rome felt the uneasiness 



566 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

that pervaded the royal courts of the Continent. The assassination 
of Count Rossi, the demand of the hberals and the flight of the 
pope to Gaeta made the situation still more precarious, but Antonelli 
began to prepare for the restoration of Pius IX, not by the free 
suffrages of his former subjects, but by the bayonets of foreign troops. 
The Austrians, against whose occupation of Ferrara a few brief 
months before he had protested, were now invited to become instru- 
ments in the work with the French, Spaniards, and Neapolitans. 
Louis Napoleon heard and answered the summons, and at his com- 
mand the French Republic sent its army to suppress its sister Roman 
Republic. He established a regime which consecrated tyranny as 
a fundamental principle. **A11 classes of society," said About, in 
1859, "hate him equally. Concini was not more detested. He is 
the only man about whom all the people are agreed." 



SIXTH DECADE, 1850-1860. 



Chapter XL 

THE POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CAVOUR. 

THE ministry of D'Azeglio and his policy of national renovation 
were earnestly supported by Cavour, who became the leader of 
the Right Center while Rattazzi was acknowledged to be the champion 
of the Left. These two parliamentary chiefs who, together with 
D'Azeglio, occupied such a prominent position in Italian politics 
when constitutional government was on its trial, were dissimilar in 
their personal characteristics, but they were subsequently attracted 
toward each other, as it were, by the "affinity of contraries," though 
at first differing in their political principles. Rattazzi was an accom- 
plished orator, richly endowed with all those qualities which constitute 
an able advocate. Cavour was a ready debater of great skill, and 
possessing those rarer abilities which proclaim the profound states- 
man. Rattazzi, whether as the strong ally of the administration or 
the able exponent of the opposition, seldom exhibited the construc- 
tive genius of Cavour in originating a policy, while the latter was 
never contented unless he was at the head of affairs, devising plans 
for a campaign or organizing a victory. Indeed, he was too self- 



TWO STATESMEN. 567 

reliant and independent to occupy a subordinate place in the cabinet, 
and disliked to share power and responsibility with others. ''Self- 
conscious and imperious, he demanded instruments, not advisers; 
machinery, not motive power; subalterns, not peers." While both 
were equally bold and resolute in the face of difficulties or danger, 
Cavour displayed the greater tact and sagacity in avoiding the latter 
and overcoming the former. The many aspects of a question were 
seen as quickly and as clearly by Rattazzi as they were by Cavour, 
but the latter examined it more closely, and, challenging it at every 
point, studied its various relations, calculated its bearings, estimated 
its disturbing forces, and projected its orbit. 

Possessing a mathematical mind, Cavour naturally submitted every 
question, whether political or moral, to the severest test, as he would 
if considering the arc of a circle or the segment of a sphere. Rattazzi 
was gifted with forensic powers, and, after selecting his position, 
endeavored to fortify it with the strongest arguments. With judicial 
precision Cavour canvassed the whole range of possibilities surround- 
ing a question, and then, by an act of induction, arrived at a conclu- 
sion. "The intellectual process of the one involved an analysis which 
only contemplated a subordinate synthesis ; that of the other a broad 
and comprehensive synthesis, which implied every possible analysis." 
Rattazzi was probably a better judge of men as individuals, but no 
one could excel Cavour in the art of utilizing them as forces. He 
regarded them, however, as something more than mere instruments,, 
and, after finding in each man's individuality what he could use to 
make his specialty a success, he appropriated it without seeming to 
interfere' with the man's independence. In fine, Rattazzi ruled his 
party by the power of his eloquence, as his style was flowing and his 
diction elegant to a remarkable degree. Cavour, though his utterance 
was difficult and his elocution painful, controlled the chambers by 
"the simple force of his genius." 

In the reaction which followed the revolution of 1848, when 
Europe was passing into the shadow of a liberal eclipse, Cavour was 
more resolute than ever in accomplishing his work of reform. In 
times of revolution he was a conservative; but, in the days of reac- 
tion, he became a radical. After separating himself from the Right 
he inclined more and more to the Left, though the party of which he 
was now the chief was small and apparently without any hope of 
success. Yet by skillful management he made that 'Mittle phalanx" 
influential, and became, in fact, the leader of the parliamentary major- 
ity. He was the same frank and simple defender of the constitution 



568 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

before the crisis as after it. The boasting of impotent revolutionists 
excited his contempt and antipathy, and, unmoved by their threats, 
he earnestly supported the government more especially in the critical 
days, which immediately succeeded the overthrow at Novara until 
peace was definitely settled, which was only in January, 1850. In 
the mean time Cavour still remained a bold and active liberal, indors- 
ing and accepting the "statuto" with all its conditions, guarantees, 
and consequences. In sustaining the ministry he often stimulated 
and advanced beyond it, and, by degrees, became the chief — the 
leader, if not of the conservative majority, with which he kept pace — 
at least of the liberal fraction of that majority. He did not favor a 
conservative policy, because he was naturally a partisan of immobil- 
ity; but he wished to show that, when exigencies demanded power 
and action, the moderate parliamentary leader, like himself, possessed 
the statesmanship to meet the crisis. In order that he might demon- 
strate this, opportunities were afforded him, as they naturally presented 
themselves in connection with a policy and a constitutional system 
which constantly bring parties into collision. 

The abolition of "privileged jurisdictions and ecclesiastical immu- 
nities in the administration of justice" was evidently one of the sim- 
plest results of this system. It was natural that Count Balbo and 
Count Revel, who were friends of the ministry, and the most con- 
servative and the most religious of the men on the Right, should not 
doubt the principle, but they did ask that negotiations should be 
made first with the pope. Such negotiations had been carried on in 
vain for two years, and any further delay would only weaken the new 
institutions, and create the impression that in a liberal state there 
could be two laws, two jurisdictions, and two powers. While there 
were many other questions of civil reforms and ecclesiastical organ- 
izations which infallibly arise from a constitutional regime, yet the min- 
istry, under the circumstances, hesitated to advance so far, and in its 
modesty only proposed the abolition of ecclesiastical privileges, of that 
which was called the foro. Count Siccardi, the minister of justice, 
introduced such a bill, which was advocated by all the sincere Lib- 
erals, contested by some of the ministerial Right, and bitterly opposed 
by the members of the reaction. 

Cavour, among others, had urged the ministry to present the bill, 
and therefore embraced the opportunity of indorsing it. In discuss- 
ing the matter he boldly favored the resumption of a "true constitu- 
tional policy," by claiming the civil rights of society in the face 
of the privileges of the Church. He combated those who were 



CA VOUKS POLICY. 569 

always opposed to reforms — sometimes because the national mind 
was agitated, at others because it was tranquil. After directing the 
attention of his hearers to English statesmen, who understood how 
to change the tide of every revolution by the use of opportune meas- 
ures, Cavour added: ''When reforms are effected in good time, far 
from weakening authority, they strengthen it, rendering the revo- 
lutionary spirit powerless. I would say, therefore, to statesmen : 
Frankly follow the examples of the duke of Wellington, Earl Grey, 
and Sir Robert Peel, . . . follow broadly the road of reforms, 
without fear of their being inopportune. Do not think that it will 
weaken the cause of the constitutional throne, for it will, on the con- 
trary, strengthen it and will strike such deep roots into our soil that, 
should revolution spring up around us, not only will it have power to 
dominate revolution, but it will gather about it all the live forces of 
Italy, and conduct the nation to the destinies awaiting her.'' 

This speech in favor of ecclesiastical reform was delivered in 
March, 1850, and marks the turning-point in Cavour's poHtical his- 
tory, so far, at least, as it regards his popularity. Henceforth his 
name was to become a tower of strength. Reform became his watch- 
word — Church reform, financial reform, postal reform, reform in the 
revenue service, in the civil service. He favored ''administrative 
decentralization, so far as consistent with political unity, the abolition 
of the military commandants, and the complete emancipation of the 
state from the trammels of the Church." In this speech Cavour 
revealed his innermost thought, manifestly proceeding beyond the 
limits of a special question, and profoundly impressing the public 
mind with the fact that he was not only the author of a policy, but 
the very man created to conduct it. 

The cruelly embarrassed condition of Piedmontese finance afforded 
Cavour another opportunity of showing his ability as a statesman. 
It was not one of those questions which excite every passion of the 
soul and appeal to the most tender emotions, but the stern, prac- 
tical fact of a deficit of six millions per annum. He faithfully sup- 
ported the government, and exposed -the puerile charges and chimer- 
ical schemes that were brought against it, and yet, in criticising its 
financial policy, he caused it to feel "the prick of the spur." First, 
reviewing the economical position, like a man who was perfectly famil- 
iar with the facts, then considering them with clearness and confidence, 
he said, at the end of the list : " Be careful ; if, in the next session, the 
ministry does not bring forward a financial scheme by which to restore 
the balance with a reformed custom-house tariff, and the system of tax- 



570 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

ation which the country needs, I shall deeply regret it; we shall, my 
friends and I, be compelled to abandon it. . . . Although the 
condition of our country is serious, it is by no means desperate ; we 
only need a little strength of will and courage to make it accede to 
the necessary taxation. . . . Let us hear no more of party 
agitations ; the union between the king and the nation is sufficiently 
close and well established, there is nothing to fear from extreme revo- 
lutionary or reactionary parties. I do not fear the spread of either 
one or the other. . . . Proceed, therefore, banish alarms ; you 
will have the support of parliament and of the country, even in the 
most distressing portion of our task — the re-establishment of the 
balance of expenditure and income." 

The great ability, decision of mind, and prompt activity exhib- 
ited by Cavour in political and financial matters were now fully recog- 
nized, and people discerned in him the earnest man and the wise 
minister, who is ripe for work and anxious to restore lost time. 
Hence, when Santa Rosa, the minister of commerce, died unexpect- 
edly in October, 1850, the name of Cavour instantly suggested itself. 
Indeed, every thing seemed to concur in designating him as the 
proper successor of the deceased official at a time when surrounding 
circumstances were somewhat unpleasant. By order of the arch- 
bishop of Turin, Mgr. Fransoni harshly refused the last sacraments 
of the Church to the unfortunate Santa Rosa, who, though a pro- 
foundly religious man, incurred the displeasure of the Jesuits, be- 
cause he had taken part in the introduction, as well as the vote, of the 
law of the foi^o. How sad the spectacle of a man, on his deathbed, 
begging for the prayers of the priest, and, at the same time, refusing 
to utter a recantation which he considered would dishonor his name. 

Public opinion was profoundly moved at Turin, and naturally turned 
toward Cavour, who had been the intimate friend of Santa Rosa, and 
who, more than any other, had contributed to the success of the law 
of the foro. D' Azeglio himself was delighted with the proposition to 
introduce into his cabinet such an ''able and vigorous athlete," and 
when he went to Victor Emmanuel to suggest his appointment, the 
king, without exhibiting any more surprise than the rest, replied with 
his usual sagacity, ' ' I will accept him ; but wait a little, and he will 
rob you of all your portfolios." Cavour had made no conditions, 
neither concerning men nor things, but simply repeated his old say- 
ing of the Villa Bolongaro : *'We will do something." He recog- 
nized the fact that a cabinet minister would have what power he is 
capable of exercising. His acceptance of the portfolio marked a 



VARIOUS REFORMS. 571 

new era in Italian affairs. It was truly a fortunate circumstance that 
a country so completely conquered and humiliated should find, in the 
moment of its greatest need, a noble prince, inspired with patriotism, 
who, aided by devoted men, resolved to perpetuate constitutional lib- 
erty. In view of the almost irreparable disaster that had recently 
prostrated the nation, its restoration was a complicated and difficult 
work, that could not be performed in a single day or by a single 
blow, but was destined to be accomplished after peculiar and severe 
struggles. It had two prominent phases, the first of which was the 
ministry of D'Azeglio, which Cavour entered in October, 1850. Oc- 
curring soon after the defeat of Novara, this event truly terminated 
the period of national disgrace and ruin, and inaugurated that of 
reform. The new ministry, accepting peace as a necessity, devoted 
its energies to the task of strengthening liberal institutions. 

D'Azeglio was a man of great moderation, affable disposition, and 
commanding dignity, and these qualities were of advantage to him in 
his efforts to conciliate the European powers. While he was labor- 
ing to remove external distrust, and re-establish the diplomatic posi- 
tion of Piedmont, Count Siccardi endeavored to secure ecclesiastical 
reforms. General Alfonso La Marmora, minister of war, having 
restored peace at Genoa, proceeded to reconstruct an army which 
had been demoralized by defeat. He inaugurated a new system of 
military instruction, and changed military institutions, especially 
reconstructing officers' corps, by opening the ranks of the regular 
army to most of the other Italian provinces who had fought with the 
Piedmontese during the war. He inspired all with the same patriotic 
spirit, saying, ' ' I trust that from whatever province they may come, 
the officers are fully penetrated with the national sentiment, which 
makes all Italians equally devoted sons of the same great country — 
Italy!" La Marmora did not hesitate to make himself responsible 
before the Chambers by pushing on the fortifications of Casale, 
which ten years later (in 1859) were to arrest the Austrian invasion. 

In 185 1, on the retirement of Nigra, Cavour assumed the port- 
folio of finance, in addition to that of agriculture and commerce. 
He was admirably fitted for both these positions, having a profound 
knowledge of political economy, which rendered him an authority in 
financial questions. He immediately commenced the difficult task 
of ameliorating the condition of the treasury, favored the abolition of 
discriminating duties, and concluded commercial treaties with Swit- 
zerland, Belgium, Denmark, France, and England, on the basis of 
free trade, which, as Bianchi remarks, ''were so many decisive bat- 



572 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

ties against Austria, gained on the field of diplomacy." In this gen- 
eral work of national renovation, Cavour, as minister of commerce 
and finance, rendered important assistance by emancipating com- 
merce, and establishing combinations of imposts. In securing these 
economic reforms, he displayed an inexhaustible fertility of resource 
and untiring activity, which soon gave him a great influence in 
parliament. 

Piedmont entered afresh upon the path of national progress ; but, 
in advancing, it met with two obstacles, which D' Mazade calls "one 
matter of general policy, and another of parliamentary conduct." It 
would seem that the question of *' general policy" had been decided; 
but it continued to present itself at every step and in every form, 
under conditions in which every thing had been modified. At the 
formation of D 'Azeglio's new ministry Cavour, as we have stated 
previously, was striving to uphold, despite the repulse at Novara, 
the flag of the "statuto," and the liberal cause of the nation; but, 
knowing that a warlike and revolutionary opposition was dangerous, 
he was compelled to dissolve a chamber. A second dissolution of 
the parliament, however, was necessary, through the intervention of 
the king, before he could obtain from the country a parliamentary 
assembly with which he might harmoniously work. There was in 
this new ministry a very large majority, composed of all shades of 
conservatism, while the Left represented a minority too small to be 
feared. This conservative chamber gave Piedmont peace and good 
order, and saved her from ruin. 

An entirely new condition of affairs followed the acceptance and 
conclusion of peace. The internal state of the country was again 
considered a question of primary importance, and there was a visible 
modification and transformation of parties. Such men as Pinelli, 
Boncompagni, and Castelli, representing a fraction of the majority, 
and constituting a liberal conservative center, did not hesitate to sus- 
tain the ministry in its efforts to secure a wise reform. Balbo, Count 
Revel, and Colonel Menabrea, of the extreme Right, and a few depu- 
ties from Savoy, manifested some opposition. This party, though 
strongly and sincerely constitutional, and not desirous to separate 
itself from the government, was, nevertheless, in fact, stationary or 
reactionary, favoring the **statuto," but not its results, and often em- 
barrassed the government while supporting it. 

When the law of the foro was presented by the ministry. Count 
Balbo and his friends opposed it. When reforms in political econ- 
omy were being accomplished by Cavour, and he was negotiating 



PARTIES IN PARLIAMENT. 573 

with France, England, and Belgium for a treaty of commerce. Count 
Revel and the conservative protectionists arrayed themselves against 
his measures. While Colonel Menabrea, at that time a young and 
brilliant officer of engineers, and an eloquent speaker, did not exactly 
assume a hostile attitude, he occupied a position somewhat similar to 
that of a clerical and conservative dissenter. He had abandoned the 
post of first secretary of foreign affairs when the question of ecclesi- 
astical privileges was first introduced. Mean time, in the opposite 
camp, a movement in the opposite direction was transpiring. The 
extreme Left — composed of such men as the Tecchios, the Sineos, and 
the Brofferios — was deeply excited, and as usual, passionate declama- 
tions resounded there. But already a small party was detaching 
itself from this democratic combination, constituting, as it were, a Left 
Center, with Rattazzi, Lauza, Cadorna, and Buffa. This Left Center 
gradually approached nearer to the government, and even sometimes 
supported ministerial reforms by its votes, though often its tactics 
seemed to be hostile. 

The condition of parliament presented a singular aspect. On the 
one hand the ministry, having a majority, secured peace ; but a part 
of it either resisted or became indifferent whenever the government 
adopted a national and liberal policy ; on the other, the cabinet en- 
countered opposition, which originated chiefly in 1848 and 1849; but 
even this was yielding to ''the sobering influence of events." Yet 
these former adversaries might either become useful allies or danger- 
ous opponents. Hence the situation was exciting, uncertain, critical. 
It was evident that some positive step must be taken. If the Right 
should dictate the policy of the government, there was danger of its 
drifting toward reaction, which would one day affect the system of 
religious reforms, and probably also the liberty of the press, and 
electoral law. A persistent adherence to the policy that had been 
inaugurated involved the necessity of obtaining, by other alliances 
and other support, enough strength to make up for defections in the 
right. The ministry appreciated the situation ; but the question be- 
came complicated by the differences of the temperament in D 'Aze- 
glio and Cavour, who were both at the same time friends and com- 
petitors in the government. 

These two men held exactly the same opinions relative to the 
adoption of a liberal policy by Piedmont ; but D 'Azeglio, for diplo- 
matic reasons, as well as from personal characteristics, hesitated before 
precipitating an avowed conflict with the right. He had been ele- 
vated to the ministry because of devotion to the services of his coun- 



574 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

try rather than from taste or ambition on his part, and while in 
power he remained the same generous and polite gentleman, saga- 
cious and amiable ; brave in the midst of dangers ; somewhat deficient 
in energy in overcoming the difficulties of daily life, and easily 
fatigued by business. Cavour had the activity and perseverance of 
a public man who had a passion for business matters, and not only 
foresaw coming troubles, but immediately commenced to counteract 
or to overcome them. He deeply and painfully felt reluctant to sep- 
arate from the ''friends of childhood," as he called them. On one 
occasion, in an animated discussion, he was opposed by some old 
friends, and, though manifesting considerable emotion, resolutely ex- 
claimed, "Yes, gentlemen, I know that in entering on political life, 
in time of such difficulties as these, one must be prepared for the 
greatest deceptions. I am prepared for it. Should I be compelled 
to give up all the friends of my childhood ; if I should have to see my 
most intimate acquaintances transformed into my bitterest enemies, I 
would not fail in my duty. I will never abandon the. principles of 
liberty, to which I have avowed allegiance." If the cause of national 
reform could only succeed by arraying his best friends against him, 
Cavour was willing to endure even that. " I have been accused," he 
says later, "of having separated from old friends; the accusation is 
unfounded. I have not left them, but they have left me. I did every 
thing to retain them and to persuade them; it is they who have 
refused to follow me. Ought I, then, to have stood alone, rejecting 
the co-operation of those who were disposed to follow me?" 

Those who exhibited any disposition to follow him belonged to 
the Left Center, chiefly represented by Rattazzi. Cavour well remem- 
bered the course pursued by the Left Center in the parliamentary 
affairs of 1848 and 1849; ^^^^ ^^ fought them then, and still more 
recently, and he resolved to do so, when necessary, to the end. He 
would not, however, permit the recollections of former conflicts 
to prevent an alliance by which the government might be emanci- 
pated and the condition of parliament strengthened. He proposed, 
therefore, the formation of a party composed of men of extreme 
opinions, and representing all shades of liberalism. Although these 
new allies were not harmonious, yet he was confident that he could 
control them. "It was all deducible," says D'Mazade, " to a ques- 
tion of apropos ; and Cavour, by a mai-vel of dexterity, chose for the 
more decisive affirmation of that evolution of liberal policy meditated 
by him exactly the moment when Piedmont was compelled to ' reef 
sail,' and pay an apparent tribute to the reactionary spirit." 



CAVOUR ABANDONS THE CONSERVATIVES. 575 

While D 'Azeglio presided over the cabinet Cavour, by his pecul- 
iar tact and ability, was already in reality prime minister. A crisis 
suddenly arose which demanded the exercise of great prudence. It 
was when the coup d'etat of December 2, 185 1, burst upon France, 
and whose echo resounded like the death knell of liberty in Piedmont. 
A new Napoleon seemed to confront Europe, and the smaller coun- 
tries, like Piedmont and Belgium, were uneasy, because they sheltered 
the refugees from Paris, and tolerated the freedom and independence 
of the press. Indeed, the repressive policy of Louis Napoleon in 
France was a menace to constitutional liberty wherever it existed, 
and also an encouragement to the absolutist and reactionary parties. 
Piedmont especially occupied an embarrassing position, the situation 
in France being full of peril, and Austria waiting to take every advan- 
tage of her, and besides, her trouble and vexation were likely to be 
increased by the imprudence of the press or refugees. 

The cabinet at Turin appreciated the difficulties and delicacies of 
the situation, and as early as January 7, 1852, it hastened to justify 
itself to the French government by proposing a law on the press, by 
which offenses against foreign princes were to be transferred to the 
ordinary tribunals, and not to be tried by jury. The Piedmontese 
cabinet was compelled to accept what it could not avoid, and 
D' Azeglio thus ingeniously stated the case: ''Suppose we had to 
traverse one of those regions where wild beasts abound, and pass 
close to a den where a lion was sleeping, and that one of our guides 
told us, * Do not speak — make no noise, lest you should awaken 
him ;' and if one of us were to begin to sing I imagine we should 
all combine to shut his mouth. ... Or again, if notwithstand- 
ing all possible precaution and prudence the lion awakes and springs 
upon us, then, if we are men we must fight." By this striking 
apologue D'Azeglio expressed the necessity of prudence; but the 
great work of adjusting the difficulties of the situation devolved upon 
Cavour, who boldly opposed the reactionists, labored to establish the 
integrity of Piedmontese policy, and preserve inviolate the institu- 
tions of the country. He proposed to accomplish this by uniting the 
liberal elements in parliament. 

The conservative party, with a view of inaugurating the oppressive 
policy which Napoleon had adopted in France, urged the absolute 
necessity of modifying the electoral laws and greatly restricting the 
liberty of the press. The discussion concerning the latter, which 
occurred in the early part of 1852, will be memorable in the political 
career of Cavour, as marking his complete separation from the con- 



5 'j^ ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

servative party and his coalition with the Left Center, or Hberal pro- 
gressives. -In his celebrated speech on the liberty of the press he 
declared that, though it was one of the most difficult problems of 
modern legislation, still there was no other effectual remedy for its 
abuse than public opinion or the press itself. Cavour was criticised 
and censured for his course on this occasion, being stigmatized as a 
renegade, who had falsified his past record and become the champion 
of a policy not his own. 

Colonel ]\Ienabrea, the representative of conservatism, Avas alarmed, 
and more earnestly advocated a greater restriction of the liberty of 
the press. Ratazzi, on the other hand, defended liberalism, and 
promised to support the ministry, provided it maintained a law which 
he regarded as temporarily needful. Cavour was prominent in this 
parliamentary combat, speaking in favor of the law, exposing the 
whole policy of the government with remarkable precision and ability, 
accepting offers of aid from the chiefs of the Left Center, and consid- 
ering Colonel Menabrea's speech as the declaration of a rupture. 
The struggle between these leaders was sharp, and in the melee the 
strongest passions were exhibited. The efforts of peace-makers to 
render the contest less bitter were not entirely successful. The Right 
proposed a divorce, followed by a new marriage — a conmibio, as Revel 
called it, in referring to the events of 1848 for an argument against 
the new alliance. This sudden change surprised all ; and even 
Colonel jMenabrea was astonished at the excitement he had pro- 
duced, remarking, with some sadness: "The minister of finance 
wants to set sail in the direction of a new parliamentary coast, and 
land on another shore. He has a right to act as he pleases, but I 
shall not go with him." Cavour's reply was: *'It is not true that 
the ministry has directed its helm towards other shores. It has made 
no movement of the sort ; but wishes to go in the direction of the 
prow, instead of in the direction of the stern." These explanations 
resulted in greater divisions, and the question of the law of the 
press, though to some extent insignificant, became the pretext for a 
decisive battle, that had had been skillfully planned, and was bravely 
fought out in parliament. 

A few members of the cabinet complained of Cavour's daring 
maneuver because he was pledging the ministry to do more than it 
was inclined to perform ; and D'Azeglio himself did his utmost to 
moderate the conflict, and explain the words of his impetuous col- 
league. But the blow had been struck, and was resounding through 
parliament and through the country. Cavour was now the recog- 



RESIGNA TION OF CA VO UR. 577 

nized leader of liberal opinions, having been compelled, as we have 
seen, to abandon the conservative party, with its reactionary tenden- 
cies, because it either could not or would not advance in the path of 
reform which he had marked out for himself. When his former friends 
and allies refused to support his measures, he turned to the liberals, 
believing that a multiplicity of expedients is not inconsistent with 
unity of purpose. His course, therefore, was not a surrender of 
principles, but simply a change of political base. He became the 
representative, not of a new policy, but of a new and more active 
and decisive phase of Piedmontese policy that rendered the comiuhio 
more pronounced. The president of the Chamber of Deputies having 
suddenly died, the minister of finance immediately supported the 
candidature of Rattazzi for that position, and he was elected. This 
event, however, produced a ministerial crisis in May, 1852, which 
seemed to delay the hour of Cavour's complete supremacy, but 
which, after all, hastened the inevitable result. These sudden changes 
alarmed D'Azeglio, and he thought his formidable colleague, the 
"dear inventor of the connubiOy" as he loved to call him, was rather 
too fast, and might by his extreme course prejudice the outside 
world against the government. 

Cavour, by this ''constitutional coup d'etat,'' became master of the 
political situation, and, having the prestige of an ever- increasing 
authority, he retired for a time, leaving the reigns in the hands of 
D'Azeglio. After the resignation of the ministry a reconstruction 
of it occurred, concerning which Cavour wrote to his friend Salvag- 
noli, in Florence : "It was in my opinion not only useful but indis- 
pensable that a liberal party should be firmly constituted. 
After having at first been convinced of such a necessity D'Azeglio 
has not accepted all the consequences, and he provoked a crisis, 
which could only result in my retirement or his removal from power. 
External policy required that I should be the sacrifice. I think 
D'Azeglio would willingly have abdicated, but I did my utmost to 
dissuade him; he stayed, and we have not ceased to be friends, pri-" 
vately and politically. It will next be his turn to retire, and then 
we can constitute an openly liberal cabinet. In the mean time, I 
take advantage of my new liberty for a journey to France and 
England." 

Cavour did not visit these countries simply for recreation, but to 
interview their statesmen, and prepare the way for his own combina- 
tions by removing the prejudices existing there against liberal Pied- 
mont. In France, England, and Scotland he was received with flat- 



578 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

tering marks of consideration, not only at court, but by the most 
distinguished men of the time. Well might they honor a statesman 
who 'Miad achieved," says Dr. Spencer, ** a bloodless revolution in 
favor of constitutional liberty, which the tiers etat and the guillotine 
have never been able to acquire permanently for France, or Magna 
Chaiia and the block for England, and which was secured only after 
centuries of bloody conflict between royal prerogative and popular 
rights." At the time of Cavour's visit to England Lord Malmesbury 
was at the head of the foreign office, and he openly expressed his 
hope that an amicable settlement would soon be made between 
Cavour and the party he had labored so hard to unite. The most 
cordial reception, however, was extended to him in Paris, where he 
had arranged to meet Rattazzi. By his air of easy superiority he 
won the esteem of the prince-president. Napoleon, and also renewed 
acquaintance among some old friends of the parliamentary world, 
one of whom, M. Thiers, said to him, **Be patient; if after they 
have given you snakes for breakfast they give you snakes again for 
dinner do not be disgusted." During this visit Cavour made many 
new friends, and had an excellent opportunity of observing the posi- 
tion of affairs which he might one day have to manipulate. 

While in London and in Paris he closely watched the progress of 
events in Piedmont, and when informed of the unsettled condition 
of the ministry there he wrote to his friends : ' ' Instead of combating 
D'Azeglio we should lend him a frank support ; but we can not sac- 
rifice our good name to him. . . . As soon as I return we will con- 
sult together ; we will see La Marmora, and speak bluntly to him. 
It is time for all this to be settled. If D'Azeglio wishes to remain 
in power let him say so, and he will have in us sincere allies. Should 
he be tired of it let him no longer render the problem of government 
insoluble by his continual vacillations." The fact is, that D'Azeglio 
was oppressed by the weight of government ; while abroad, as at 
home, Cavour was weighing upon the ministry. If his presence in 
the government had been a disturbing element his absence was a 
still greater embarrassment. If the ministry could not live with him 
neither could it do without him. 

On his return to Turin in September, 1852, Cavour was called by 
the king to form a new ministry that would come to terms with the 
**Holy See." He frankly declared that he could not and would not 
become the interpreter of a policy of subserviency to the pope, but 
subsequently accepted the charge without conditions. Thus, after 
having passed through a severe conflict, he was crowned conqueror. 



CA VOUR AS PRESIDENT. 5 79 



Sixth Decade Continued, 1850-1860. 



Chapter XII. 

THK POLICY OF C A VOUR. 

CAVOUR became president of the council and minister of finance 
November 4, 1852, and his victorious return to pubHc Hfe after 
a retirement of a few months marked an important epoch in the 
history of Italy. D'Azeglio yielded his position to his brilliant rival 
without exhibiting any resentment, and wrote: "I had accepted the 
helm at a time when it was pointed out to me that better than any 
other man I could direct it for the country's best advantage. . . . 
Now, that the ship has refitted, let the winds fill her sails. I surren- 
der my quarter-deck to another. He, whom you know, is possessed 
of a diabolical activity, fitted for the work, both in mind and body, 
and it gives him so much pleasure!" Cavour accepted the responsi- 
ble trust ; but he understood the ship of state because he had helped 
to construct it. As a liberal conservative he had been creating, 
through a series of changes, and b}^ means of alliances with the 
"moderates of all parties," a parliamentary position which directed 
Piedmont and Italy into the track of new destinies. 

When D'Azeglio's ministry, which had so patriotically managed 
public affairs immediately after Novara, was passing away, a final 
effort, which Victor Emmanuel did not discountenance, was made by 
Count Balbo to reconstitute a purely conservative cabinet, or, in other 
words, a ministry of reconciliation with Rome. Victor Emmanuel 
had consulted Cavour concerning the matter, and both resolved that 
Balbo should make the experiment. He exhausted all forms of ne- 
gotiations and overtures, but completely failed, having been refused 
by his own friends, beginning with Revel, who did not consider him- 
self able to overcome the current of opinion. Cavour's resumption 
of office, after Balbo's failure, was all the more significant ; it settled 
the way between the two systems which for about three years had 
been perpetually at conflict in Turin. 

The new president of the council having entered parliament un- 
der conditions arranged by himself, he proceeded to broaden and 

38 



5 So 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 



strengthen them. He resolved not to be checked by resistance from 
the Right, or the clerical party, and at the same time he had no inten- 
tion of suddenly disturbing political equilibrium, and separating himself 
from his friends, the moderate hberals. He was careful not to ** break 
the chain," as he called it; and, above all, he was determined to 
secure the support of the principal members of D'Azeglio's cabinet, 
whose colleague he had been. "Without La Marmora," he would 
often repeat, '*I could not be minister." According to his view. La 
Marmora represented military reorganization, just as Paleocapa (an 
engineer of the greatest eminence) represented that of progress in 
material works, and Boncompagni that of wise reforms in religious 
matters. The new ministers of foreign affairs and of the interior, 
General Dabormida and Count Ponza di San Martino, firmly held to 
the same traditions. The government was still controlledby the Right 
Center, and was now directed by a leader who retained simply the 

financial department for him- 
self, but was competent to 
manage any ministry. 

After the consolidation 
of the cabinet at the end of 
several months a final alli- 
ance was made with the Left 
Center by the elevation of 
Rattazzi to the ministry of 
justice. Instead of being 
at the mercy of the Left 
Center Cavour absorbed or 
annexed it, and it showed 
wisdom in permitting itself 
to be annexed, since it was 
promoting the success of a 
new idea by uniting the 
whole liberal party under 
the ablest of leaders. Before 
the expiration of one year 
the country strikingly sanctioned this idea by the immense ministerial 
majority returned to the Chamber in the elections. From this time 
Cavour might truly say that he had ''raised a barrier sufficiently 
high for the reaction to be unable to reach above it." Besides the 
confidence of the king, he had a ministry and a majority, in fact, an 
entire parliamentary platform constructed by himself, and upon which 




RATTAZZI. 



# 

PIEDMONT'S FINANCIAL CONDITION 581 

he could securely stand in the realization of his plans, and in the 
development of his policy. The latter was truly the creation of 
Cavour's genius — his original work, but was not probably the pro- 
duct of his own imagination. It came to him as the gift of circum- 
stances. Others no doubt had thought of it, but it was he who had 
shaped it and brought it within practical limits. He breathed into it 
his bold yet prudent spirit, converting into a reality that saying of 
a conquered but not despairing nation: "We will begin again!" 

Cavour was one of the first to perceive the results of this great 
truth, which he summed up on one occasion by saying: *'It is impos- 
sible for the government to have an Italian or national policy out- 
wardly without being inwardly reforming and liberal; just as it would 
be impossible for us to be inwardly liberal without being national 
and Italian in our external relations," He knew that Piedmont occu- 
pied an embarrassing position after her overthrow, and was constantly 
and jealously watched by Austria. It was evident to him that she 
must, within her small limits, exhibit all the activity, energy, and 
wisdom of a great country if she desired to accomplish her designs. 
"Piedm.ont," he continued, "must begin by raising herself, by re- 
establishing in Europe as well as in Italy a position and a credit 
equal to her ambition. Hence there must be a policy unswerving 
in its aim, but flexible and various as to the means emplo}'ed 
embracing the exchequer, military reorganization, diplomacy, and 
religious affairs." 

In prosecuting the work of national reform Cavour caused matured 
plans to gradually unfold and become results. A vigorous impulse 
was imparted to every thing, but economic and financial matters first 
claimed attention. Like all conquered countries. Piedmont had to 
pay for defeat. It was oppressed with the burden of two disastrous 
campaigns which, with the Austrian indemnity, cost it very nearly 
three hundred millions of francs. Thus the public debt, which before 
1848 amounted to no more that five millions per annum (i^200,ooo), 
was rapidly increased to more than thirty millions. The budget of 
its expenses, only eighty millions before the war, was above one 
hundred and seventy-eight millions in 1848, two hundred and sixteen 
in 1849, ^1"'^ hundred and eighty-nine in 1850, and finally it remained 
fixed at between one hundred and thirty and one hundred and forty 
millions. From the very beginning, then, the expenses of the country 
had doubled, and Cavour was now confronted by a public debt six 
times as large as before. When we remember that this was the 
financial condition of Piedmont twenty-seven years ago, when its 



5 S2 ITAL V 577? UGGLIXG INTO LIGHT. 

population was less than five millions of souls and its resources still 
undeveloped, these figures represent a weight almost as heavy as 
that which has been laid upon France under still more tragic cir- 
cumstances. 

There were two systems that could be tried, and how often do 
they present themselves as rivals. One scheme was to practice the 
strictest and most scrupulous economy, reserving a modest balance 
b}^ reducing expenses, diminishing the deficit, and increasing only 
the most necessary taxes. But by adopting this method the army 
would be made smaller, the most useful public improvements would 
be abandoned, or, at least, indefinitely postponed, and the country 
would lose its influence. This plan was prudent in its general pro- 
\-isions, but it was not far-reaching. The most rigid economy would 
not remove the burden unless the nation could receive somiC compen- 
sation or be assisted in the development of its vitality. It must have 
help to support a weight which would inevitably become heavier. 
While Cavour had other plans, he finally settled upon one which 
inaugurated a new financial system in constitutional and liberal Pied- 
mont, two hundred millions for the railways of Genoa and the Lago 
^Maggiore, Novara, Susa, and Savoy, in works of every description. 
He favored the spirit of enterprise and association, and accordingly 
labored to develop interior communications. He was ambitious to 
realize in "little Piedmont" the great idea of commercial freedom, 
and, after inaugurating it by a custom-house reform, he further estab- 
lished it by treaties of commerce with France, England, Belgium, 
and Switzerland. Indeed, Cavour, instead of adopting the methods 
of a prejudiced, dogmatical free trader, carried out a gradual and 
practical reform which circumstances required, and which would be 
profitable to consumers through the diminution of tariffs. To further 
promote the national welfare he encouraged maritime commerce, 
stimulated the internal industry of the country by foreign competition, 
and supported it by the decrease of taxes on raw material, while it 
opened the way for the exportation of national productions. 

To increase expenses instead of retrenching, and to contract new 
debts by levying new taxes, was assuredly a bold and perhaps rash 
step, especially in view of the fact that this proposed tariff reform 
was to immediately follow the postal reform. A reduction of the 
salt-tax and a deficit in the budget rendered the situation still more 
precarious. But this complicated and difficult work did not intim- 
idate Cavour, who exhibited undiminished confidence in ''liberalism 
and the marvels it can work," to use his own expression. He was 



PIEDMONT'S ISOLA TION. 583 

fully persuaded that these particular expenditures would exert an 
invigorating influence, and consequently he was willing to be crit- 
icized, but did not hesitate to defend his policy against all attacks. 
By a clear demonstration he plainly showed that an appropriation of 
one or two millions of francs for the improvement of the ports would 
bring in not less than five hundred thousand francs per annum, and 
also that the expenditure of ten millions of francs in piercing the 
Luckmanier would increase the commerce of Genoa by a third, per- 
haps by one-half. He urged the importance of taking shares and 
securing an interest in the railway of Savoy, because thereby fifty 
millions of francs would be circulated in a province that was in 
pressing need of capital. "In order to realize our programme," said 
Cavour, "and profitably cultivate the country's resources, it was 
necessary to give a powerful impulse to works of public utility, to 
work our railways with 'all possible circumspection, while we gave 
encouragement to other enterprises. ... In order that the posi- 
tion which for so many centuries the monarchy of Savoy has main- 
tained should not be suffered to decline, it was necessary to reorganize 

and fortify our army This scheme made it necessary for 

us to raise new loans, or rather to contract larger loans than they 
would need to have been if we acted on the system of modesty and 
economy. It consequently became necessary to increase the tax- 
ation; but that could not be done, nor could the resources of the 
country be developed without undertaking the reform of our economic 
system on a large scale." 

The introduction of this commercial and financial reform as a 
matter of diplomacy indicated that Cavour designed to accomplish 
something more than the development of the country's resources. 
Piedmont had remained in isolation since its misfortunes, and its 
great statesman desired therefore to bring it into closer contact with 
the prominent western nations, with England and with France. Com- 
merce and finance, according to his plan, constituted a bond of united 
interests which might grow into one of policy and of ideas. Austria 
was not deceived in regard to the programme. Before his death 
Prince Schwartzenberg, the Austrian prime minister, "with faintly 
masked ill-humor," 'remarked, "Piedmont intends with its commer- 
cial policy to purchase the support of England for Italy!" While 
this statement was not absolutely true, yet Cavour no doubt felt 
confident that, by remaining constitutional and by combining com- 
mercial with the other liberties, Piedmont would rapidly gain public 
sympathy in England, which would give it additional strength. 



5 84 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

"England," he said to an intimate friend, *'is no longer the cham- 
pion of absolutism on the Continent, and an English minister would 
find it difficult to take part with Austria in the oppression of Italy." 

Cavour denied that he was influenced by a ** hidden policy" in 
advocating commercial intercourse with England, declared that he sac- 
rificed no principle, and was simply actuated by a desire to benefit the 
country. He did not, however, conceal his intention of contracting a 
friendship with France under the veil of a commercial treaty. While 
that treaty was not satisfactory in every point, he resolved to accept it, 
even though he should be compelled to make some concessions to 
the French system of protection, as he believed that Piedmont would 
gain a political rather than an economical advantage by that course. 
"The horizon is still dark around us," he said, "and our institutions 
are not as yet protected from all danger. Something, perhaps, may 
chance to make us desire at least the moral support of France. 
Let me say, frankly, in the face of impending possibilities, I think 
it prudent, conformable with the interests of the countr}% to be on 
good terms with France. We have not neglected matters of economy, 
but merely left them in the background. Views of policy have 
caused us to accept a treaty which will strengthen a good and 
cordial understanding between us and France." And Cavour, in 
still more striking words, that, spoken in 185 1, seem almost pro- 
phetic, further said: "Is it not possible that complications may arise 
in which all surrounding nations may be concerned in two great 
questions, the Eastern and Western ? Were this to happen, should 
we not do well to be on good terms with France?" Thus every 
thing concurred under the wise and liberal management of one 
who understood how^ to use commerce, finance, and diplomacy in 
placing Piedmont on her feet again. 

What Cavour accomplished by his financial and commercial sys- 
tem he not only attempted but effected in a higher moral sphere by 
his religious policy. The problem to be solved by him was intricate 
and difficult. The ecclesiastical situation had to be reconciled with 
the principles of the '' statiito,'' and the liberal and national policy 
of Piedmont maintained in its civil relations with the Church and the 
court of Rome. The discussion of every new feature of this prob- 
lem naturally and almost constantly kept it before the country. 
The decrees of the laws for the abolition of ecclesiastical privi- 
leges, that of civil marriages, the law for the reorganization of 
Church property, and the suppression of certain monastic orders, 
were each the occasion of strife, which became more bitter with every 



PAPAL ROME HOSTILE. 585 

new project. The remonstrances of Rome increased the clerical 
agitation, against which was arrayed the anti-clerical agitation. In par- 
liament the left accused the government of not advancing with suf- 
ficient determination and energy in religious matters ; while the right 
complained that no negotiations were entered into with the "Holy See," 
and that the good pleasure of Rome was not consulted. 

Cavour handled these delicate and difficult questions in a manner 
which indicated that his mind was full of decision, and, at the same 
time, entirely free from prejudice. His elevation to power was the 
signal for an unrelenting and uncompromising war on the part of 
Rome. The clerical party, as we have already stated, was exasper- 
ated by the recent legislation regarding civil marriage, and still more 
embittered by the subsequent suppression of the convents and the 
taxation of the Church property. Papal Rome employed all its 
supernatural machinery — absolution, excommunication, purgatory, 
and plenary indulgence — "to which end its spiritual brokers had 
obtained an unlimited credit upon the heavenly exchequer, with 
a viev/ of operating more successfully upon the political stock 
exchange." A war of deadly hostility was waged against the gov- 
ernment, and the contest raged not only upon the floor of parliament 
but in salon and cafe, at the court and on the public square, around 
the confessionals and in front of the very altars. It invaded the royal 
household and cast a deeper shadow over the sacred precincts of 
domestic sorrow. The recent bereavements of the king were inter- 
preted as providential warnings should he still continue to sanction 
this ungodly crusade against the " Holy Church." Victor Emmanuel, 
still desiring to avoid an open rupture with Pope Pius IX, was over- 
come with grief, and, wishing to obey the dying injunction of a ven- 
erated mother, determined to m.ake one more effort for a reconciliation 
with the ' ' Holy See ;" but the inevitable non possuimis would not permit 
it. Shortly after he subordinated the affection of a son and the loy- 
alty of a Roman Catholic to the sterner duties of a sovereign by 
recalling Cavour, who in the meantime had resigned, and by granting 
him full liberty to enforce the policy and consummate the reforms 
which the clerical party so strenuously resisted. 

At first Cavour no doubt believed that he could make an amica- 
ble arrangement with the Vatican ; but he very soon discovered that 
it was impossible, especially since the religious reaction which was 
spreading in Italy as well as in Europe generally, only hardened the 
court of Rome in its demands and its refusals. Besides, in a short 
time, he saw the pontificate involved in dangerous fellowship with the 



586 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

enemy beyond the Alps by the Austrian Concordat. Indeed, he had 
not any faith in securing favorable terms from Rome for the realiza- 
tion of such reforms as Piedmont earnestly desired, and, as for him- 
self, he had ceased making any effort in that direction. "If we put 
ourselves in direct relations with Rome," he said, writing to an inti- 
mate friend, "we completely ruin the political edifice we have so 
laboriously erected. If we enter into an arrangement with the pope 
it will be impossible for us to retain our influence in Italy. Let us 
not go too far, but neither let us suffer ourselves to retreat even one 
step. You know that I am not a priest-hater, that I am disposed 
towards conciliation, and would willingly give the Church greater 
liberty than she now enjoys ; you know that I should be disposed to 
give up the exequaturs, the exclusive management of the universi- 
ties, etc.; but under present circumstances I am persuaded that all 
attempts at concord would be to our disadvantage." In the heat of 
action he uttered a similar sentiment: "We have to fight Austria 
at Venice and at Milan, and also at Bologna and at Rome." 

Cavour regarded the question of ecclesiastical reforms — the rela- 
tions of Piedmont with the Church and with Rome — not only one of 
interior order, but of national importance, constituting, in fact, one 
element of the Italian situation. Any effort to solve that problem by 
stratagem or compromise would only result in endless weariness, 
waste of time, and disappointment. Cavour proposed but one 
solution, liberty and complete independence of civil and religious 
authority ; a grand yet simple idea, which was soon to resolve itself 
into these few emphatic words: "A Liberal Church in a Liberal 
State!" He who elevated that standard in a small corner of Italy 
"was neither a theorist," says D'Mazade, "nor a revolutionist yield- 
ing, at the risk of overthrowing interests, beliefs, and traditions, to a 
fanciful love of novelty ; neither was it the work of a puzzled tacti- 
cian, trying to conceal a parliamentary campaign against clericalism 
under the cloak of an epigram. Cavour neither had the passion of a 
leader of a faction, the subtlety of a casuist, nor the flippancy of a 
thoughtless innovator." He believed that the political freedom of 
Piedmont, and, indeed, of all Italy, could be secured by the accept- 
ance of a liberty without subterfuges, and which recognized the com- 
plete spiritual independence of the Church. 

"Oh, that man," said Archbishop Darboy — the same who later fell 
a victim to the Commune — when at Rome, "that man indeed was of a 
rare sort; he had not the slightest sentiment of hatred in his heart/' 
This was a true statement. Neither hatred nor vulgar animosity 



CHUR CH AND STATE. 587 

actuated him in advocating liberalism. The great Piedmontese as- 
serted that he was not a "priest hater," and it was this which gave 
to his religious policy its originality and superiority. He defended 
the Church when she remained in her legitimate sphere, and he did 
not refuse her liberty when she claimed social independence. He 
acknowledged her to be the entire mistress of her own ground, but 
at the same time he was determined to carry out the reforms that he 
had inaugurated, and in which he saw the development of the 
'' stattito.'' 

To the request of some members of the Left, Brofferio and As- 
proni, that the state should supervise the education in the seminaries, 
he em.phatically replied: " If I had to give an opinion as a citizen, 
and not as a minister, I should say that the government ought not to 
interfere in the teaching of theology, which is solely the province of 
the bishops to watch over. Bishops should not have to do the work 
of members of parliament, nor deputies that of bishops. We are at 
liberty to believe or not to believe, and to select whom we choose 
for our spiritual advisers. If we are dissatisfied with the moral teach- 
ing of the seminaries, we will choose our confessors from among 
theologians who have attended the school of Asproni." And he 
added, more seriously: *'How can the clergy become converted to 
our institutions, and how will they love them if, after having, not 
unreasonably, withdrawn some of the privileges which they enjoyed 
under the old regime, and just as we are about to deprive them of 
the few that remain, we should say to them : ' We reform, according 
to the principles of liberty and equality, all those points of legislation 
which formerly were favorable to you ; but as to your independence 
and your liberty, we wish to preserve those traditions of the past 
which we call, so far as they are opposed to you, the glorious heri- 
tage of our fathers !' . . . The best way of increasing the polit- 
ical influence of the clergy is to give them an exceptional position, 
persecute and even subject them to petty vexations." 

Cavour was not ignorant of the nature of clericalism when united 
with politics, because, having been compelled to combat it frequently, 
he had a good opportunity of observing its theocratic and dangerous 
tendency. He avoided, however, any thing like retaliation in meeting 
these aggressions, and continued moderate even in the reforms for 
which he was so bitterly denounced. This is evident from the policy 
he inaugurated. The law for the suppression of certain monastic 
orders caused the greatest excitement, and was by many considered 
proscriptive; but, while depriving the mendicant and a few other 



588 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

orders of civil status, it did not affect the rights of reh'gious associa- 
tions. It sanctioned the teaching and nursing orders, especially 
that of the Sisters of Charity, which Cavour earnestly defended 
against the attacks of the left,, declaring that nothing should induce 
him to favor a law suppressing charitable orders. * ' I would quit the 
ministry ten times," he said, "rather than bind myself to an act that 
would in my opinion be immensely prejudicial to our country in the 
eyes of civilized Europe." Concerning the possessions of the Church, 
the law simply proposed to create a special fund, which was to be 
endowed with the revenues of the suppressed orders, and dedicated 
entirely to the clergy. 

This measure relative to Church property was one of the funda- 
mental ideas of Cavour's policy. He had always been opposed to 
what was called "the incanicration of ecclesiastical property," or the 
transformation of the Church into a corps which received salary from 
the state, and the reason he gave for this opposition was that the 
measure would create the worst form of despotism — the administrative 
despotism. "I have," said he, "the misfortune or the good luck — 
Avhich you will — to be minister where a certain degree of centraliza- 
tion reigns, and where the government has quite enough in its hands. 
I declare to you, that if you add this one of which you speak to the 
powers of government you will give what will be threatening to lib- 
erty." Such, a reason was a strange one to come from a minister; 
but the chief motive that influenced him was one of "high policy." 

The real ground of Cavour's opposition was that the spirit of 
caste would be extended and intensified by the expropriation of the 
clergy. " It has been," he said, "carried out on a very large scale 
in some European countries. In France, before the Revolution, the 
clergy was, if I am not mistaken, as rich as that of Spain. It was 
totally stripped, and was not allowed to retain a vestige of its old 
possessions. What ensued ? I have great respect for the French 
clergy, and I admit that it is more moral and also more zealous than 
it used to be ; but no one can deny that it is also less national and 
less liberal than was the clergy of the old regime. For that was ani- 
mated by a spirit of independence with regard to Rome, and a certain 
degree of attachment to national views ; it had the instincts of liberty. 
Now things are different ; all facts go to prove that the modern 
French clergy is infinitely more Ultramontane than our national 
clergy. It will be said: 'But there is another course that could be 
pursued: let us leave the followers of the faith to remunerate their 
own clergy.' Do you know what would be the consequence of this? 



CA VO UR 'S LIBERALISM. 5 89 

A double amount of zeal, fanaticism, and Ultramontanism. Such a 
system exists in Ireland. There the clergy is unsalaried ; its means 
of existence consist of charity and the voluntary contributions of the 
faithful. That clergy is both more fanatical and less liberal than the 
clergy of France." 

On this question Cavour's views coincided with those of De 
Tocqueville. He refused to sanction ecclesiastical expropriations, or to 
employ any such means for the balancing of his budget. He believed 
that the secularization of civil society by legitimate and progressive 
methods would produce religious reform sooner than by hostile legis- 
lation. Indeed, Cavour was both a great liberal and a great politi- 
cian. He resolved that revolutionary passions should not influence 
these important religious questions, and he was anxious to preserve 
the liberal movement from the suspicion of interested motives. On 
one occasion he frankly declared to Sig. Depretis, who had conversed 
with him on the subject, why he did not wish to cause divisions in 
the public mind. *' It is," said he, **in order that the nation may be 
unanimous, if an opportunity should present itself, of regaining our 
lost position by an energetic effort." He was desirous neither to 
divide public opinion nor to compromise the good name of the coun- 
try by unnecessary acts of persecution, and consequently he firmly 
opposed the proposition to subject all students, including those at 
the seminaries, to military service. ''Your proposition," he de- 
clared, ''will be regarded throughout the country as a revolutionary 
act. ... In the present state of things I should consider as a 
great evil any act that could, even externally, present the appear- 
ance of a revolutionary measure." It was not difficult for him to 
despise party excitement and remain moderate, because he was one 
of those rare politicians who, without yielding to trifling prejudices, 
followed out the realization of a lofty scheme. Cavour possessed a 
genius both practical and tolerant, and instead of wounding the feel- 
ings of the clergy by unnecessary words, he endeavored to captivate 
them by persuading them to accept the reforms which he required 
of them. He was successful in securing the good will of these 
ecclesiastics. The head of a religious order from Rome visited him, 
and expressed his astonishment at the cordial reception he met with. 
Cavour afterwards remarked with a smile: "On leaving my house 
that brother has gone to the bishop's palace, where he will certainly 
not have had such a reception as I gave him. He will compare the 
two, return to Rome, tell his story, and, if he is honest, he will say 
that I am not the persecuting minister and diabolical person which at 



590 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Rome they imagine me to be." His kindness was genuine, and not 
assumed for the sake of pohcy, and he distributed alms sponta- 
neously, and without display or ostentation, to any of the poorer 
clergy who asked them of him. Often in the morning, when some 
priests were waiting for their slender pittance, which he and one of 
his fellow-w^orkers were preparing, Cavour would almost empty his 
own private purse rather than take anything from the impoverished 
treasury of the state, at the same time rubbing his hands, and 
cheerfull}' remarking: "Ah, if the gentlemen of the Left could see 
us at what we are doing!" 

Cavour's mind, in its very basis, was broad and liberal, }-et not 
skeptical. He ne\'er became a scoffing freethinker and ridiculed the 
faith in which he had been educated. A curious illustration of this 
occurred seven years before his death, but remained unknown for a 
long time. When the contest about conventual laws was raging, and 
a fatal epidemic was prevailing in Turin, he had taken precautions, 
should he too be stricken, against the painful scenes which had trans- 
pired at the death of Count Santa Rosa. He desired to obtain the 
assurance of his religious instructor that he should receive the minis- 
trations of the Church in his dying hour; and, accordingly, one 
morning he quietly ordered and prearranged every thing with Fra 
Giacomo, the parish priest of the Madonna dei Angeli. whom he 
made the confidant of his charities. At the conclusion of their inter- 
view Ratazzi, the recently instituted minister of the interior, chanced 
to come in, and Cavour, after having courteously accompanied the 
priest to the door, turned to his colleague and simply remarked, 
'*\Ve have arranged every thing together in case any misfortune 
should befall me." It is a significant fact that seven years afterwards, 
faithful to his promise in 1854, Fra Giacomo hastened to the death- 
bed of the Piedmontese minister, then prime minister of Italy. In 
conducting the religious campaign, which with the exchequer and 
diplomacy expressed his policy, Cavour exhibited boldness, shrewd- 
ness, simplicity, and activity.' Difficulties, internal and external, 
confronted him daily ; but he carried out his polic}" in the face of 
the most bitter opposition. 

In the early part of 1853, almost immediately after he had become 
president of the council, the relations of Piedmont with Austria sus- 
tained the first shock. The latter country concluded to take advan- 
tage of a recent Mazzinian uprising at Milan, and accordingly struck 
a blow at the Lombard emigres at Turin, sequestrating the property 
of the Casati, the Arese, the Arconati, the Torelli, and many others. 



MAL CONTENTS DENO UNCE CA VO UR. 591 

Piedmont promptly suppressed the Milanese outburst; and then pro- 
tested against Austria's measure of spoliation, which oppressed men 
who not only were manifestly innocent of any offense, but who had 
become naturalized Piedmontese, and of whom some were members 
of parliament. The only effect produced by this protest was a cold- 
ness which resulted in a reciprocal recall of embassadors. Thus an 
incident occurring in less than four years after the conclusion of 
peace revived the national question. Cavour did not regret that 
Austria had to bear the responsibility of this bitter provocation, and 
in his heart he rejoiced that she was condemned alike by France 
and England. ** Austria," he said, **has managed to set public 
opinion and all the governments of Europe against her. In tr}'ing to 
damage us she has done us service; we will take advantage of it." 
Although the rupture between Piedmont and Austria was not com- 
plete, yet the situation was delicate, and even precarious, causing 
general anxiety. The reactionists in Piedmont and in Europe did 
not hesitate to use this opportunity to denounce the cabinet, and to 
ascribe the difficulties of the hour to the impatient and improvident 
policy of Cavour, which inspired revolutionary agitation. But 
greater trials were at hand in the interior, and affairs there were 
every moment becoming more serious and painful. 

In adopting the new system of taxation, securing the financial 
reforms, and establishing the commercial treaties, there were naturally 
a clashing of various interests, and even temporary panics. To in- 
crease the wide-spread uneasiness there were also bad harvests, and 
diseases smiting the silk-worms and the vines. If bread advanced 
in price Cavour and his reforms were blamed. Every unfavorable 
circumstance was magnified by certain parties or factions, who 
harangued the crowd, accusing the ministry of starving the people 
and depriving them of their rights. On the evening of October 18, 
1853, in the peaceful city of Turin, an excited crowd or mob, con- 
sisting for the most part of laborers and mechanics, and crying, 
** Death to him !" assailed his residence with a shower of stones, demol- 
ishing the windows, and threatening its inmates with personal violence. 
This skirmish, however, was not a true index of the sentiments of 
the substantial class in Turin, who repudiated this act of the populace 
in a most emphatic manner, while letters and addresses of sympathy 
and confidence poured in from every quarter. The following day 
Cavour, accompanied by La Marmora, walked through the streets 
on his usual way to the ministry of finance, and was every -where 
kindly greeted. 



592 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

The reactionary papers in Savoy, by comparing the old and new- 
rate of taxes, endeavored to excite the prejudices of the populace 
and produce discontent. Cavour was publicly accused of crushing 
the laborer and the artisan with imposts, that he might "prosecute 
his Utopias about Italy." The municipal council of Chambery, 
which was entirely controlled by the reactionary party, almost 
reached the point of refusal to pay the levy. The national guard 
declined to be present at the rejoicings in honor of the "statuto." 
A Savoyard wrote to Cavour: "If you are obstinate, we are doubly 
so; it is not in Savoy that heads are w^eather-cocks." The excitement 
was rendered still greater by the attack that was made upon Cavour's 
religious policy. While parliament was agitated by warm discussions 
the country at large w^as equally convulsed. Threats w^ere made 
against the government because it was leading Piedmont "to schism, 
anarchy, and destruction." The enforcement of the law for the 
suppression of certain convents provoked painful scenes of resistance. 
Famines and epidemics were declared to be messengers of wrath 
from Heaven to punish the nation for the enactment of sacrilegious 
law^s. This statement was rendered more significant by the myste- 
rious providence which in the space of a few days removed by death 
three members of the royal family — the queen's mother, the queen, 
and the duke of Genoa. Even those who were immediately about 
the person of the king at the court seemed to regard these sudden 
occasions for mourning as warnings from Heaven. 

While Cavour remained firm in this dark hour, yet he was often 
anxious. "Policy is becoming more and more perplexing," he 
wa'ote to his friends at Geneva; "we have to contend against famine, 
new taxes, priests, and reactionists. . . . Nevertheless, I do not 
relinquish hope." Another day he wrote thus from Leri, wdiere he 
had gone to enjoy a few moments needful rest: "After a desperate 
struggle, in parliament, in the salons, at the court, as well as in the 
streets, to which are added a number of lamentable circumstances, I 
found I had reached the end of my intellectual resources, and I have 
come here to restore them by a few days' rest. Thanks to my nat- 
ural elasticity of fiber, I shall shortly be able to resume the weight 
of affairs. Before the week is out I hope to be back to my post, 
where difficulties await me, giving rise to a political situation likely 
to become more and more strained." Any other prime minister, 
of less "elasticity of fiber," would have succumbed in a struggle 
like this one, whose intricacies and vicissitudes made it laborious 
and unceasing. 



PUBLIC WORKS. 593 

This policy, though stoutly resisted by its enemies, continued to 
receive strength, manifesting its power in primary result, and in a 
few years yielding fruit. On every side progress was discernible. La 
Marmora, by his energy, perseverance, and method, and by the aid 
of a minister of finance who willingly furnished the necessary money, 
had already succeeded in reorganizing the military institutions, and 
gathering an army which, though small, was nevertheless able to 
sustain with dignity the standard of Italy. This new management in 
economic matters was not sterile, but produced good results. The 
spirit of liberty had infused new life into the nation, and activity was 
apparent in every form of industry and commercial enterprise. The 
works of public usefulness, when completed, were a source of wealth. 
At the beginning of 1854 the Genoese railroad was finished and 
opened, cutting its way through the Apennines to that gulf of the 
Mediterranean where Cavour was proud to have arrived on the first 
locomotive. Thus Piedmont gradually acquired an honorable name 
in Europe, exhibiting remarkable progress for a small country, being 
full of life, and quick to resist her enemies. In France and England 
she attracted attention, and won sympathy by her right use of con- 
stitutional freedom. 

It was also evident that Cavour himself was rising in public es- 
teem. He displayed such great ability in the management of strug- 
gles, out of which he always came the stronger, that those around 
him felt a growing interest and confidence in him. While engaged 
in all these affairs, he never lost sight of the momentous enterprise 
before him, but appreciated its serious character, as the following 
extract from a private letter, which he wrote to Madame de Cir- 
court, in 1854, will indicate: 

''Circumstances have led Piedmont to take a clear and positive 
position in Italy. I know that it is not without danger, and I feel 
all the responsibility that it imposes on me ; but honor and duty have 
laid the burden on us. Since Providence has so willed it that Pied- 
mont should alone be free and independent in Italy, it is the duty of 
Piedmont to use that liberty and independence in pleading the cause 
of our unfortunate Peninsula before Europe. We will not shrink 
from that perilous task ; the king and the country are determined to 
accomplish it to the uttermost. May be your friends, the doctrinaires 
and the liberals, who deplore the loss of liberty in France after they 
have helped to stifle it in Italy, will consider our policy absurd and 
romantic. I am resigned to their censures, feeling certain that gener- 
ous hearts like yours will sympathize with our efforts to recall to life 



594 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

a nation for centuries buried in a frightful tomb. If I should fail, 
you will not refuse to give me a corner among the eminent van- 
quished who fly to group themselves about you. . . ' . Take this 
confession as the avowal that my whole life is consecrated to one 
object — that of the emancipation of my country." 



Sixth Decade, Continued, 1850-1860. 



Chapter XIII. 

OPENING OF THE NA TIONAL DRAMA IN ITAL V. 

WHEN Cavour, as early as 185 1, advocated a treaty of com- 
merce, as a diplomatic advantage, he was ridiculed by some ; 
but time vindicated his position. The Russian war with England and 
France was now at hand, and might involve the interests of all coun- 
tries, and divide "into two camps the East and the West." From 
the first Cavour watched the great conflict with an attentive eye, 
and was confident that it would be extended. In the Spring of 1854, 
when the armies of France and England were advancing toward 
the Black Sea, he, in the company of Count Lisio, was spending an 
evening at the house of his favorite niece, the Countess Alfieri, in 
whose society he loved to seek repose. He stood silent and thought- 
ful in the sa/on, when she rallied him by inquiring, "Well, uncle, 
are we going to the Crimea?" He simply smiled, and said, "Who 
knows?" Then again, as if reading his thoughts, she would suddenly 
ask such a question as this, "Why should you not send ten thou- 
sand men?" to which he eagerly replied, "Ah, if every one thought 
that, it would already be done." This intelligent woman, who well 
understood her uncle, finally asked him: "Well, are we ready to 
start?" and he replied, with his usual smile, "Who knows? England 
is solicitous to conclude a treaty which would give our soldiers an 
opportunity of wiping out the defeat of Novara. But what would 
you? All my cabinet is hostile to this expedition. Rattazzi himself, 
and my best friend, La Marmora, speak of relinquishing the enter- 
prise ; but the king is for me, and we two will prevail." 

Cavour was heartily in favor of uniting with the Western alliance, 
which was thrown open by the Anglo-French treaty of alliance of 



OPPOSITION A T TURIN. 595 

April 10, 1854, and had the decision rested only with him, he would 
have been among the first to take the step. Piedmont had not been 
in direct relations with Russia since 1848, and therefore felt free to 
consult her own interests. The Emperor Nicholas desired to please 
Austria, and no doubt entertained hostile feelings toward the liberal 
government of Turin. He even returned no answer to the first offi- 
cial notifications of King Victor Emmanuel. There was nothing, 
therefore, to restrain Piedmont's liberty of action and sympathy for 
the Western cause ; but Cavour was not alone. After first persuad- 
ing the king to sanction the scheme, he proceeded to win over his 
colleagues, nearly all stubborn men ; next the ministen of foreign 
affairs, Dabormida, then Rattazzi, then parliament, and, finally, pub- 
lic opinion. 

The first announcement of this project in Turin produced con- 
siderable excitement, and was condemned on every side. It was 
asserted that the country would not derive any benefit from such a 
far-off enterprise ; that little Piedmont could not occupy an honorable 
place beside the two greatest powers of Europe, and that the modest 
Sardinian contingent would appear contemptible among the armies of 
France and of England. The question was asked, whether it was wise 
to impose new sacrifices on the country for a ruinous piece of folly 
at a time when it was so difficult to meet the deficit of the budget? 
While Cavour was aware of this strong opposition, and could jiot be 
entirely independent of it, yet he had no idea of abandoning his pur- 
pose. When an opportunity of obliterating the disgrace of Novara 
presented itself, he was determined to avail himself of it, especially 
when Piedmont could exhibit the skill of the new Sardinian army,, 
and also obtain both moral and diplomatic credit by securing the sup- 
port of England and France. He concentrated all his energies in 
the effort to make his scheme popular and in gaining allies. At one 
time he felt that another might be more successful in the work than^ 
he could be, and accordingly proposed to Massimo d 'Azeglio, that 
he should take his place as president of the council, while he served, 
under his orders, or even, if necessary, abandoned the ministry. 
"Do what you think best," he wrote; ''I will support you through, 
and through, provided you make the alliance." This offer was. 
promptly declined by D 'Azeglio, who promised the fullest aid to a 
policy whose greatness he appreciated, but which he could not carry 
out as successfully as he who had conceived it. 

Although perplexed on every side, Cavour was watching Austriai 
at the time when the news reached Turin that the Viennese cabinet 

39 



596 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

had signed the treaty of December 2, 1854, with England and France. 
He perceived that the position of Austria was equivocal, and that 
Piedmont must take a bold stand. If Austria's scheme was to have 
her assistance purchased at Paris and in London, by pledging her 
Italian possessions, it would be necessary for Piedmont to counteract 
it by an immediate alliance with the West ; but if Austria intended 
to be neutral — and this the penetrating eye of Cavour foresaw — the 
cabinet of Turin would obviously gain a great advantage by a 
prompt and resolute movement. Or, if some unexpected event 
should cause Austria to espouse the claims of Russia, then Piedmont 
would have every thing in her own hands, and the Italian question 
would be speedily solved. In any case, hesitation was impossible, 
and in the critical moment Cavour received encouragement from one 
who ever remained his warm, devoted friend, Sir James Hudson, the 
English representative at Turin, to whom an order had just been sent, 
by his government, proposing, in conjunction with the minister of 
France, a treaty of alliance with Piedmont. 

There were difficulties, however, to contend with in fixing the 
conditions of the treaty. The cabinet of London seem to have taken 
it for granted that the Sardinian government would be satisfied by 
sending a contingent for an auxiliary corps in the pay of England; 
but neither Cavour, who was, determined to maintain the independ- 
ence of his policy, nor La Marmora, who felt a commendable pride 
in the small expeditionary corps, of which he was to be the leader, 
would ever consent to sanction such an arrangement. They refused 
to allow Piedmont to occupy any other position than that of one ally 
negotiating with another, desiring to defray its own expenses, and to 
preserve the ** dignity and disinterestedness of its co-operation," thus 
maintaining equal rights. Nothing was asked of the British cabinet 
but the facilitation of a loan. It was evident that some kind of 
guarantee, or at least some visible expression of sympathy, would 
have been very acceptable to the ministry of Turin. If England and 
France would have pledged themselves to secure at Vienna the abol- 
ition of the decree sequestrating the Lombard estates, Piedmont 
could have entered into the alliance with more confidence ; but neither 
of these contracting parties would agree to this proposition of the 
Sardinian government. This question might have become serious had 
it not been fortunately removed out of the way by prominent Lombard 
emigres, who, desiring the success of the negotiation, implored Ca- 
vour not to trouble himself about them. General Dabormida refused 
at the eleventh hour to yield the point of the guarantee, and hence 



THE TREATY OF ALLIANCE. 597 

Cavour was compelled himself to assume control of the foreign affairs, 
in order to sign without conditions. In this treaty, concluded Janu- 
ary 10, 1855, it was stipulated that the Sardinian government should 
dispatch and maintain a corps of fifteen thousand men in the Crimea 
during the continuation of the war. Cavour saw it was not beyond 
the range of probabilities that, if Italian soldiers should discount 
French and English blood before the fortifications of Sebastopol, the 
solemn obligation at no distant day would be canceled in similar coin 
upon the fertile plains of Lombardy. In fact, he adroitly introduced 
into the treaty a secret stipulation to this effect. It was, indeed, a 
bold, almost desperate, stroke of policy. ''C'cst lui cotip de pistolet,'" 
exclaimed an Austrian diplomat, * * tire 'a bout portant aiix oreillcs de 
VAiitriche.'' 

This treaty, uniting Piedmont to France and England, was not 
only **a pistol fired in the ear of Austria," as Count von Usedom 
significantly called it, but also the occasion of another parliamentary 
battle. The Piedmontese intervention was regarded by the right as 
"a totally unnecessary adventure, " which would lead to ruinous results 
by wasting the public money and by placing the army in a subordi- 
nate position. Besides, that which Cavour had labored so hard to 
accomplish was termed *'an act of weakness, the enforced pen- 
alty of the revolutionary policy of the cabinet." These opponents 
claimed that his change to liberalism and his alliance with the left 
center, or party of action, had led him into extremes. They 
declared that France and England, in sending their armies to check 
Muscovite ambition in the East, were not willing to incur the risk 
of complications in Italy, and had, therefore, insisted on binding 
Piedmont as a precautionary measure. 

The situation in the camp of the left was still more extraordi- 
nary and critical. Some^of the speakers sneeringly referred to the 
entry of Piedmont into that ''European concert," in which Austria 
was to be one of the principal ''performers," and denounced a treaty 
with the Western powers as a base desertion of the national cause. 
"The alliance," said Brofferio, "is economically chargeable with rash- 
ness ; militarily, it is a piece of folly ; and, politically, it is a wicked 
act." Again he exclaimed, with more than his usual fervor: " If I 
should allow free scope to the impulse of my feelings, my voice 
would sound out a grand lament. The sacrifice of liberty, be 
assured, will be the consequence of victory, whichever side it may 
favor. May God forefend the fatal augury ! But if you consent to 
this treaty the prostration of Piedmont and the ruin of Italy will be 



598 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

an accomplished fact." The most determined opposition came from 
the ranks of the democratic party, who imagined they saw in this 
ill-starred expedition the overthrow of constitutional government in 
Piedmont, and an insurmountable barrier to Italian unity and inde- 
pendence. Some of the extreme liberals went so far as to induce 
a few misled subaltern officers to prepare a protest, in which it was 
stated that "no government had a right to dispose of Italian soldiers 
to fight in anti-national war;" and it went on to say: "Let us rise 
and swear that we will only consent to fight for the unity of Italy 
and for those people who aspire to defend their nationality." The 
more moderate complained that no provision had been made under 
certain contingencies for an armed neutrality, which could seize its 
favorable opportunity in the midst of the complications with which 
Europe was threatened. The general feeling in parliament was, no 
doubt, expressed by Deviry, who, in an address, said: "Gentlemen, 
the responsibility which we are going to incur at the moment when 
we shall cast our ballots into the urn is immense, is terrible ; for 
upon that vote will depend, it may be, the future of our country." 

These political prophets predicted that Cavour's policy would 
involve Piedmont in danger and ruin, but in it he foresaw the only 
hope of his country's safety and salvation. It seemed that neither 
side in parliament perceived that Italy might be advanced by still 
another means. Cavour permitted them to ventilate their opinions, 
and, after listening to them patiently, he presented to them his policy 
in a speech which was animated with the breath of a new life. He 
explained to them how that neutrality would be a dangerous retreat 
into the background, and that Piedmont was more interested than 
any other nation in checking the progress of Russia toward the 
Mediterranean. Coming directly to the difficult point of the matter, 
he asked Avhether the alliance would be favorable or injurious to 
Italy. This was the real question. 

"We have joined the alliance," said he, "without relinquishing 
our exterior sympathies any more than our interior principles. We 
have not hidden our anxiety for the future of Italy, or our desire to 
see its condition ameliorated. But how, I shall be asked, can the 
treaty serve the cause of Italy? It will serve it in the only way pos- 
sible, in the actual situation of Europe. The experience of those 
last years, as well as that of centuries, shows how little Italy has 
benefited by conspiracies, plots, revolutions, and futile excitements. 
Far from bettering her condition, they have been among the greatest 
evils which have befallen this beautiful portion of Europe, and that 



A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY. 599 

not only on account of the innumerable misfortunes to individuals 
resulting from them, but because these perpetual schemings, these 
insurrections and uprisings have resulted in a diminution of the 
esteem and sympathy which other nations might have entertained for 
Italy. . . . And now the first of conditions for the good of the 
Peninsula is the restitution of her good name. ... To effect 
this two things are necessary : First, we must prove to Europe that 
Italy has sufficient civil sagacity to govern herself liberally, and that 
she is in a position to give herself the most perfect form of govern- 
ment; secondly, we must show that our military valor is still what it 
was in the time of our ancestors. In the last seven years you have 
done much for Italy. You have proved to Europe that the Italians 
can govern themselves sagaciously. . . . But you must do more. 
Our country must give evidence that her children can fight cour- 
ageously on the field. Believe this, that the glory our soldiers will 
know how to achieve on the Eastern coasts will do more for the future 
of Italy than all the noisy talking in the world." 

While speaking thus, and fascinating the Chambers with the 
patriotism of his ideas, Cavour realized that he was playing a formi- 
dable game. After signing the treaty he wrote immediately to a 
friend, saying: **I have undertaken a terrible responsibility, but 
come what may, my conscience tells me that I have fulfilled a 
sacred duty!" From that day of April, 1855, when La Marmora 
and his fifteen thousand Piedmontese soldiers were advancing toward 
the Crimea, Cavour was burdened with anxiety, resulting from a 
consciousness that he was personally responsible. He was deeply 
moved when the news came that the Piedmontese army, on its arrival, 
had been attacked by cholera — an enemy more to be dreaded than 
the Russians. The epidemic produced the most fatal effects in the 
Piedmontese camp. During the Summer deaths occurred in rapid 
succession, and the record in Turin embraced Major Cassinis, Victor 
de Saint-Marsan, and a Casati — all falling victims in the flower of their 
youth. General Alexander La Marmora, brother to the commander- 
in-chief, also surrendered his life to the great enemy. 

Those prophets of evil who had endeavored to prevent the send- 
ing of the expedition more than ever denounced what they called a 
**mad enterprise," and the real situation of afifairs was exaggerated 
by public rumors. Cavour anxiously watched the progress of events, 
and writing to La Marmora, said : * ' We often meet together, and 
we always speak of you. Our thoughts and our best wishes are with 
you in that glorious, but hazardous, campaign to which your devotion 



600 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

to your country has led you." While he never had any doubt con- 
cerning the result, yet he was troubled with anxious apprehensions, 
and the hours to him passed slowly. When sitting one Sunday under 
the trees at Santena, whither he had gone with Sir James Hudson, 
Rattazzi, Minghetti, and Massari, he thus expressed his feelings: "I 
knew it when I advised the king and the country to venture upon this 
great enterprise ; I was sure that Ave should meet with many heavy 
obstacles, and be sorely tried ; but this battle with disease fills me 
with alarm ; it is an evil complication. Let us not be discouraged, 
however; now that we have thrown ourselves headlong into the 
fight, it is useless to look back. I know that, when dying, Rosmini 
expressed a presentiment that the Western powers would conquer. 
I hope so ; and I, too, believe it. Never mind, we are but under 
a cloud." 

It was evident to those who were around Cavour and heard him 
that a conflict, both patriotic and dramatic, was raging within him. 
He had the anxiety of a serious man, but his confidence in the suc- 
cess of his policy was unshaken. The decisive moment in his career 
had arrived when every thing depended on the success or failure, 
of one event. He had played with fortune, and the result would be 
either humiliation and disgrace or exaltation and honor. If he had 
failed, many would have called him an adventurer, but he did not 
manifest such a spirit in his efforts. He succeeded because he de- 
served success, and knew how to combine judgment with boldness in 
his schemes. At the time when victory seemed the most remote to 
him he was on the eve of triumph, and would soon be permitted 
to behold his policy coming out of the fiery ordeal and ready to be 
crowned with success. 

On the day following the battle of August i6, 1855, he received 
this simple message: **This morning the Russians, with fifty thou- 
sand men, attacked the lines of the Tchernaya. Our pass-word was, 
'King and country.' This evening you will know by telegram 
w^hether the Piedmontese were worthy to fight beside the French and 
the English. We have two hundred dead. The French dispatches 
will tell you the rest." This good report relieved Piedmont of its 
heavy burden of fears, and filled the heart of Cavour with zealous, 
patriotic pride. He gladly welcomed the news of La Marmora's 
success and rejoiced as if it were his own. The brilliant conduct of 
that brave leader and of his troops not only justified the treaty, but 
it also justified the president of the council in the eyes of all those 
who had accused him of neglecting to settle the position of the Pied- 



GENERAL LA MARMORA. 6oi 

montese general in the midst of the aUied forces. Cavoiir had 
employed all the means within his power, and had exhibited great 
judgment in the most delicate situation. He was confident that if 
the army proved true to itself and worthy of its country, its com- 
mander would naturally be elevated to the position which he had 
won, and which no one would think of refusing him. If, on the 
contrary, defeat or disgrace had befallen the Piedmontese troops, all 
diplomatic stipulations would be in vain. Cavour had reposed confi- 
dence in La Marmora and his army, and was now delighted to find 
that he was not mistaken. The Piedmontese troops presented a fine 
appearance and made a noble record in the great conflict. They 
showed themselves worthy to fight side by side with the allies before 
Sevastopol, and they seemed to instinctively feel that they were there 
as the representatives of a great idea. On one occasion a poor sol- 
dier was struggling with deep mud in the trenches, and a young 
officer, desiring to encourage him, cheerfully remarked: "Never 
mind, it is with this mud that Italy is to be made." Besides his 
military qualifications^ La Marmora had a spirit of command which 
gave him rank with the generals of the allied armies in the Crimea, 
just as a little later he took a prominent place in a council of war 
assembled in Paris. Lord Clarendon declared that he possessed the 
qualities "of a soldier, a gentleman, and a statesman." His skill as 
a leader, and the bravery of his men on the Tchernaya, secured the 
military result which formed a part of the scheme of Piedmontese 
intervention. 

As some of the fruits of the Italian campaign in the Crimea the 
Sardinian troops under La Marmora added new luster to laurels 
already won upon many a bloody field, the cabinet of Turin gained 
political consideration among the other cabinets of Europe, Austria 
was effectually checkmated, and England and France became the 
assured allies of Piedmont. Meanwhile, to draw still closer the ties 
of amity and friendship with the courts of St. James and the Tuiler- 
ies, Victor Emmanuel, accompanied by Cavour, visited Paris and 
London in the latter part of 1855. The cordial welcome extended 
to them indicated how far Piedmont had advanced in a short time. 
Once it was regarded as an obscure and insignificant state, concealed 
at the foot of the Alps from pubHc attention and almost forgotten; 
but now it was coming into notice, and other nations were talking 
about it. Victor Emmanuel was every-where honored as the sover- 
eign of a small kingdom which had boldly taken a great and impor- 
tant step, and was gaining a firm footing on the European platform. 



6o2 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



He soon became very popular in Paris, and in London the highest 
respect was paid to him not only because he was a Crimean ally, 
but also because he was a constitutional king — the legal prince who 
had made Piedmont into "a small England in Italy." 

Victor Emmanuel was also accompanied in his travels by D'Azeg- 
Ho, to whom Cavour had assigned a special mission. "His presence 

is necessary," he said cheer- 
fully, "to prove to Europe 
that we are not infected 
with revolutionary leprosy." 
D'Azeglio carried out his 
part of the programme with 
a delicacy and affability that 
made him a host of friends. 
Cavour himself, who was 
naturally one of the party, 
had his share in the rejoic- 
ings and ovations of the 
occasion. He was once 
more in Paris, which he had 
not visited since 1852; but 
he now entered it as a ne- 
gotiator for the French alli- 
ance. After consulting with 
the chief men of the day at 
the Tuileries he went to the 
house of Madame de Circourt, where he often met the representatives 
of the defeated parties. 

'^From six o'clock in the morning until two hours after midnight," 
he wrote, "I am always about; I have never led so unquiet a life 
or one so useless; patience, however. . . . The king is in good 
health and in the best of tempers. To-day there is a grand review, 
to-morrow a ball at the Hotel de Ville, and Thursday we leave. I 
send Cibrario the programme of our stay in England; it is not an 
amusing one. When I shall reckon up my various rights to a retiring 
pension I hope that the present trip will be counted as a cam- 
paign. ... I have seen Thiers; he approves of the war, but he 
would now desire peace. He despairs of his party, and almost des- 
pairs of parliamentary rule. Cousin has become a fusionist. . . . 
I chanced to meet with Montelambert, and, notwithstanding the 
small amount of sympathy existing between us, we shook hands. I 




D'AZEGLIO. 



THE SITUA TION IN EUR OPE. 603 

have also seen the Nuncio, and told him that we should wish for an 
agreement on the same basis as the French system; he pretended 
not to understand me." 

Cavour became acquainted with every branch of Parisian society, 
and he often expressed regret that he could not escape the confusion 
and anxiety of official visits and attend places of amusement. In all 
these diversions, however, he embraced every opportunity of discuss- 
ing Italian affairs and proposing some practicable remedies for amel- 
iorating the unhappy condition of Italy. This one essential point 
engrossed his thoughts. After a lengthy interview between him and 
Napoleon III at the Tuileries, the latter closed the conversation by 
asking a question that was pregnant with interest for Cavour, ''Que 
petit on faire pour l ItalieT' It was the first time that he had ever 
heard those words, **What can be done for Italy?" and though per- 
haps only lightly spoken as a mere formal expression of courtesy and 
sympathy, they made a deep impression upon his mind on that day 
in December, 1855. If the visit of Victor Emmanuel to London and 
Paris should produce no immediate results, Cavour felt that it was 
the sign of a new era for Piedmont, and a prologue or preparation 
for the more important moral victory that he was about to secure at 
the approaching congress of Paris, by means of the general negoti- 
ations which were for a time to restore peace to Europe, 

After the fall of Sevastopol on the 8th of September, 1855, which 
was in reality the termination of the Crimean campaign, the situation 
of affairs was serious. Previous to that time the war had been cir- 
cumscribed in the East, but now it was difficult to determine whether 
it would be rekindled in a still more violent form, where it would 
begin and what new direction it would take. There was a conflict of 
interests, and whether warlike or pacific measures would be adopted 
was a question not easily determined. To pay for her defeat Russia 
seemed willing to make concessions in the East. England was the 
least anxious to lay down her arms, but she could not do any thing 
without France, and France, disposed to favor peace, appeared to 
be the mediator. As Austria had not engaged her army she felt 
herself compelled to take some decisive step, and therefore, like 
France, advocated a settlement. The final result was an armistice 
with the preliminaries of peace. 

Believing that intervention and diplomacy were only a delusion, 
Cavour was at heart opposed to an armistice, and, beside, the Italian 
cause would be greatly promoted by a continuation of the war. He 
resolved, however, to make the best use of the situation, whatever it 



604 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

might be ; and when the European congress was appointed at Paris 
he prepared himself for the work of negotiation which was about to 
commence. At Turin there was considerable perplexity concerning 
the selection of a suitable agent, and D'Azeglio was mentioned as 
the probable plenipotentiary. Indeed, the public mind was some- 
what alarmed by the difficulties that must certainly arise from this 
new diplomatic crisis. It soon became evident that Cavour was the 
only man who could successfully manage a matter which he had been 
chiefly instrumental in promoting and directing. He was accordingly 
appointed chief Sardinian plenipotentiary to Paris, and, after hesitat- 
ing, concluded to accept the trust. From the moment of his arrival 
there he had to settle important questions. ''What part was Pied- 
mont to play?" "What was to be her position in the congress?" 
Nothing had as yet been decided. Cavour resolved to do for 
diplomacy what he had done for La Marmora in the Crimean war, 
and accordingly said: "When the king's government signed a treaty 
of alliance with England and France it did not think fit positively or 
particularly to state the position to be assigned to Sardinia in the 
congress. The government was convinced that with nations, as with 
individuals, influence and public esteem depend on conduct and rep- 
utation more than on diplomatic stipulations." 

In Paris Cavour depended upon his natural resources, as he had 
relied on the Piedmontese general in the Crimea, and he was not 
deceived. In the opening session of the Congress he insisted that 
Piedmont should be placed upon an equal footing with the great 
powers in the deliberations, while Austria vainly endeavored to per- 
suade France and England that Piedmont could take part in the war, 
and not have a right to be represented in the congress, because she 
was only a state of the second order, and an intruder in European 
affairs. The objection of Austria was overruled, and neither France, 
England, nor Russia would consent to the humiliating exclusion of 
Sardinia. The "acquired status" of the latter was acknowledged; 
and thus Cavour achieved a victory in the very beginning. Although 
entering the congress on the same level as the representatives of the 
greatest powers, he occupied a delicate and difficult position, because 
his right to a place there was contested, and he soon expected to 
introduce something more objectionable than himself — the Italian 
question. The admission of Piedmont caused Count Buol, the Aus- 
trian plenipotentiary, to say that he would now have "a web to 
unravel." Cavour was elevated for the first time to the highest 
political position in Europe, and brought face to face with the grav- 



A USTRIA IN THE CONGRESS. 605 

est questions ; yet he was able to mount with the occasion. Whether 
as arbitrator of war or of peace, he proved himself equal, without any 
apparent effort, to every thing required of him. He was courteous 
to all, possessed great shrewdness, displayed remarkable patience, 
and was perfect master of himself. At the first few meetings of the 
congress he preferred to keep in the background, speaking only oc- 
casionally. When it became necessary for him to express an opinion 
on the matters under discussion — the free navigation of the Danube, 
or the neutralization of the Black Sea — he stated his views concisely 
and clearly, always advocating the liberal side. He very soon won 
golden opinions from his colleagues, who were astonished at the 
variety, justice, and depth of his mind. Finding himself in an 
assembly where conflicting interests, antagonistic policies, and bitter 
jealousies met, Cavour had no difficulty in marking out a clear course, 
and in taking advantage of the affinities and antipathies in different 
natures, always avoiding any thing that might have a tendency to 
separate himself from France and England. 

As conditions had already been imposed upon Russia, and peace 
seemed almost inevitable, Cavour was unwilling to wound her pride 
and feelings by making additional demands; and the more Austria 
was tenacious in insisting the more lenient he became. Austria had 
not sacrificed a man, and yet she assumed in the congress a rigid and 
inflexible position against Russia, while Piedmont, which had bravely 
sent her soldiers to the Crimea, maintained a perfect moderation in 
the common victory of the allies. This singular contrast, together 
with the striking difference in the attitude of the representatives of 
these two countries, was observed by the Russian plenipotentiaries. 
Count Orloff felt grateful to Cavour, with whom he had a friendly 
understanding. One day the question of the neutralization of the 
Black Sea was introduced, and during the discussion Count Orloff 
turned to Cavour and said, loud enough to be heard, ''Count Buol 
speaks as though Austria had taken Sevastopol!" On another occa- 
sion, when Count Buol was insisting on the subject of a small cession 
of territory — which by a "diplomatic euphemism" would be termed 
a "rectification of frontiers" — in Bessarabia, Count Orloff said to 
Cavour, in a significant tone, "Austria's plenipotentiary does not 
know how much blood or how many tears this rectification of fron- 
tiers will cost his country." Of course, the Piedmontese diplomate 
made no effort to soften the resentment of Russia towards Austria. 

While the congress was considering the question of the East and 
the Black Sea Cavour, by his frank and affable manners, had established 



6o6 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

his position and acquired real authority, and before the expiration 
of a month his superior abilities were acknowledged by all. He per- 
formed his part in the official negotiations which culminated in the 
treaty of peace of March 30, 1856; but besides this he had a special 
work to accomplish. He had interviews with the emperor at the 
Tuileries, with Lord Clarendon, Lord Cowley, and the representa- 
tives of Russia. Some promised him support and others co-opera- 
tion, or at least a ** benevolent neutrality." Lideed, Cavour was 
anxious to have the Italian question brought before the congress ; 
but as it had no official existence it could not be presented under a 
regular diplomatic form. There was no one authorized to represent 
'the "principle of nationalities," and therefore the Italian question 
was not discussed. If the plenipotentiary of Victor Emmanuel had 
complained that the "yoke of the foreigner" rested heavily upon his 
country Austria would have had the right at once of protesting against 
the discussion of such a matter in a congress assembled to consider 
the Eastern question. There, indeed, was the difficulty ; but it was 
not insurmountable. The situation in Italy was a permanent viola- 
tion of the treaties established by diplomacy as the basis of European 
tranquillity. The fact that a French army occupied Rome indicated 
that the papal government was not able to support itself. The le- 
gations had been held by the Austrians ever since 1 849, and Bologna 
still remained in their hands. While the Austrian dominion existed 
in Lombardy as a legal government it was extended by an abuse of 
treaties to the duchies of Modena and of Parma, as well as to 
Tuscany. The king of Naples could only maintain his position by 
acts of extreme arbitrary power. This condition of affairs produced 
confusion and violence, which resulted in revolutionary intrigues, and 
even menaced Piedmont. At this point the Italian question was 
vulnerable, and might be brought under the notice of diplomacy, 
Cavour recognized this, and from the moment of his arrival in Paris 
he labored indefatigably to have the matter discussed in the congress. 
To the question which Napoleon III had asked him, "What can 
be done for Italy?" the Piedmontese minister replied by preparing^ 
at the suggestion of Lord Clarendon and Count Walewski, the En- 
glish and French plenipotentiaries, a memorandum similar to the one 
addressed to Napoleon III two months before. In addition to this 
statement, which was remarkably vigorous and lucid, he sent, on the 
27th of March — a few days before the signing of peace — a note to 
his allies, France and England, presenting Italy in a new aspect. 
Desiring to make a start, he submitted plans for the Roman states — 



A MEMORABLE SESSION. 607 

at least for the legations — and, though impracticable, they were a 
step in the right direction. The farther the congress advanced on 
the road to peace the more earnest Cavour became, fearing that the 
opportunity which had cost him so much might escape him. But he 
succeeded in arousing Napoleon III and fascinating Lord Clarendon, 
and, to strengthen his position, obtained from Count Orlofif assurances 
of at least a ''favorable neutrality" on the part of Russia. On the 
8th of April the emperor, convinced by Cavour that the time had 
arrived for introducing the Italian question into the conference, com- 
missioned Count Walewski to take the initiative, which he accord- 
ingly did. Thus, eight days after the signing of the treaty the 
powder Avhich Cavour had gathered was ignited, and a sudden explo- 
sion occurred which startled Austria, and compelled her to hear for 
the first time the announcement that after Russia she might have to 
pay the expenses of the next war. 

The session of that day had its curious features, and was memo- 
rable from the results which flowed from it. Count Walewski, the 
French plenipotentiary, invoked the aid of every ''diplomatic euphe- 
mism," taking advantage also of the congress to provoke "an inter- 
change of ideas on different subjects which were waiting to be settled, 
and which it would be well to take into consideration in order to 
prevent fresh complications." He mixed all the questions together — 
the occupation of the legations by the Austrians, the occupation of 
Rome by the French troops, the situation of the kingdom of Naples, 
the excesses of the Belgian journals, and the anarchy of Greece. It 
was not difficult to perceive the real question, but Austria was the 
last to appreciate it. Count Buol immediately denied the compe- 
tency of the congress, and declined all discussion on Italian affairs. 
He protested, temporized, and, as a final expedient, declared that in 
the absence of instructions he had no power to consider so delicate 
a question. He made no explanation and gave no opinion what- 
ever, resolving to maintain an attitude that would prevent the possi- 
bility of a practical solution. Perceiving whence the blow came, he 
could, to a certain extent, officially evade it, but he could not any 
longer restrain an outburst in the congress. In the height of the 
stormy discussion of that memorable session, of which the protocol, 
subsequently issued, furnishes a very imperfect and emasculated 
account, Lord Clarendon, thoroughly aroused by the defiant attitude 
of the Austrian envoys, exclaimed with great vehemence and warmth : 
"If your intention is really to make no promises, to give no pledges, 
to enter into no engagements with regard to Italy, it will be to throw 



6o8 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

down the gauntlet to liberal Europe, that at no distant day may 
take it up. This question will then be decided by the most energetic 
and vigorous measures. It is a great mistake to suppose that our 
forces are exhausted. " 

Count Walewski spoke in severe terms concerning the interior 
government of the king of Naples, and he admitted that the situation 
of Rome and the Roman states being under foreign rule, was ''ab- 
normal." Lord Clarendon was still more caustic in his remarks rela- 
tive to the king of Naples, and boldly declared that the pontifical gov- 
ernment was the worst of all governments. He also referred to the 
frightful condition of the Romagna, which was between a stage of 
siege and one of brigandage, and added, that the only remedy for 
these evils was "secularization, liberal reforms, and an administration 
conformable to the spirit of the age." Cavour could afford to 
remain silent while others were ably playing his game, but when his 
time to speak came he corroborated all that had been said and 
claimed that still more must be done. He demonstrated that the 
"abnormal" was not only the situation of the pontifical states and 
of Naples, but of the whole Peninsula; and that Austria, by extending 
her dominion from the Ticino to Venice, by encamping at Ferrara and 
Bologna, and by her control of Piacenza and her garrison at Parma, 
destroyed the political equilibrium of Italy, and was a source of per- 
manent danger to Sardinia. "The Sardinian plenipotentiaries," he 
said, as he faced Count Buol, "therefore think it their duty to call 
the attention of Europe to a state of things so abnormal ; that which 
results from the indefinite occupation of a great portion of Italy by 
Austrian troops." 

A few days later, on the 1 6th of April, Cavour addressed a com- 
munication to France and England, in which he reiterated the senti- 
ments that he had uttered in the congress, declaring that Piedmont 
would not submit much longer to foreign oppression, and that unless 
something was done she, like the other Italian states, would be com- 
pelled to choose either the despotic rule of Austria or war. ' ' Inter- 
nally troubled," he proceeded to say, "by the action of revolutionary 
passions instigated around her by a system of violent compression. 
and by foreign occupation, menaced with a still greater extension of 
Austrian power, the king of Sardinia may from one moment to 
another be compelled by an inevitable necessity to adopt extreme 
measures, of which it is impossible to foresee the consequences." In 
these words the real situation was described by an earnest man, who 
was burning to champion his policy before all Europe. It seemed 



CAVOUR AND CLARENDON. 6og 

that only an '^empty protocol" would be the result of his efforts, but 
even this momentary triumph indicated the gravity of the Italian 
question. Cavour, no doubt, expected something better than a pro- 
tocol, and the disappointment disturbed his mental balance. He 
manifested considerable impatience, and sometimes during these *'hot 
moods" acted strangely, but he could quickly control himself. Con- 
scious of these peculiar tides of feeling, he refers to them in a hur- 
ried letter written to Turin, explaining all that he was doing or 
attempting. "I trust," he says, ''that after reading this you will not 
imagine that I have brain fever, or that I have fallen into a state of 
delirium ; on the contrary, the condition of my intellectual health is 
excellent. I have never felt more calm ; I have even obtained a 
great reputation for moderation. Clarendon has often told me that 
Prince Napoleon accused me of being wanting in energy, and even 
Walewski praises my behavior ; I am really persuaded, however, that 
boldness might not be unattended with success." Cavour had accom- 
plished all that was possible at that time, but thought he had not 
done enough. Hence his mental agitation. 

During a part of April, 1856, he revolved in his mind various 
plans, not even hesitating to favor an immediate war with Austria, 
because he believed that he would be supported by France and 
England. The character of his secret diplomacy is revealed chiefly 
in two letters written immediately after the congress. "Yesterday 
morning," he says in one of his letters, " I had the following conver- 
sation with Lord Clarendon : * My lord, that which took place at the 
congress proves two things: i. That Austria is determined to persist 
in its system of oppression and violence towards Italy. 2. That 
diplomatic efforts are quite inefficient to modify that system. The 
results to Piedmont are extremely injurious. What with party irri- 
tation on the one hand, and the arrogance of Austria on the other, 
there are but two courses open to us, either to become reconciled 
with Austria and the pope, or to make preparations for the declara- 
tion of war with Austria at no distant period. If the first alterna- 
tive is the better, I ought, on my return to Turin, to advise the king 
to call to power the friends of Austria and the pope. If the second 
is preferable, we shall not fear, our friends and I, to prejDare ourselves 
for a terrible war — for war to the death!' Here I stopped, and 
Lord Clarendon, without expressing either surprise or disappro- 
bation, then said : ' I think you are right ; your position is grow- 
ing critical. I can imagine that an outburst may become inevitable ; 
only the time to speak it openly has not yet come. ' I replied : * I 



6lO ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

have given you evidence of my moderation and prudence : I think 
that in pohcy one should be excessively reserved as to speech and 
exceedingly decided as to deeds. There are positions in which less 
danger will be found in an excess of audacity than in one of pru- 
hence. With La Marmora for our commander-in-chief, I am per- 
suaded that we are fit to begin a war, and if it should last long, you 
will be forced to come to our assistance.' Lord Clarendon eagerly 
replied : ' Oh, certainly, if you should be in trouble you can rely on 
us; you will see how energetically we shall hurry to your aid.' " As 
Lord Clarendon was naturally a reserved man, Cavour believed that 
his words indicated the willingness of England to assist in a war for 
the freedom of Italy ; but their real meaning, as the sequel showed, 
was exaggerated by the Piedmontese minister. 

In another letter, written about the same time, Cavour describes a 
visit he made to the emperor, and also refers to the relations existing 
between the Sardinian and the Austrian plenipotentiaries. "I have 
seen the emperor," he says, "and I said much the same thing to 
him as I had said to Clarendon, only putting it a little more mildly. 
He listened courteously, and added, that he hoped to bring Austria 
to a better view of things. He told me that, on the occasion of last 
Saturday's dinner, he had said to Count Buol that he deeply regretted 
to find himself in positive contradiction to the emperor of Austria on 
the Italian question ; upon which Count Buol immediately went to 
Walewski to tell him that Austria's greatest wish was to comply with 
the emperor's wishes in every respect ; that France was her only ally; 
and that it was, therefore, imperative that she should follow the same 
policy. The emperor appeared pleased with this mark of friendship, 
and he reiterated that he would take advantage of it to obtain con- 
cessions from Austria. I showed myself incredulous. I insisted on 
the necessity for adopting a decided attitude, and I told him that to 
begin with I had prepared a protest which I would hand to Walewski 
the following day. The emperor hesitated long and finally said : 
*Go to London, come to a clear understanding with Palmerston, 
then come and see me.' The emperor must have spoken to Buol, 
for he came to me with a thousand protestations about Austria's 
good feeling toward us, her desire to live peaceably with us, and to 
respect our institutions, etc., etc., and more humbug of the sort. I 
replied that he had not given much evidence of such a wish when at 
Paris, and that I was leaving with a conviction that the understand- 
ing between us was worse instead of better. The conversation was a 
long and animated one, but always in a tone of urbanity and court- 



GAINS OF PIEDMONT. 6 1 1 

esy. . . . At parting he shook my hand, saying : * Allow me 
to hope that evefi politically we shall not always be adversaries.' I 
conclude from these words that Buol is somewhat uneasy at the exhi- 
bition of opinions in our favor, and possibly, also, at what the em- 
peror may have said to him. . . . Orloff made a thousand prot- 
estations of friendship ; he agreed with me that the condition of 
Italy was insupportable. . . . Even the Prussian speaks ill of 
Austria. After all, if we have not gained any thing practically in 
the eyes of the world, our victory is complete." 

Cavour soon realized that his favorite idea of a coming war was 
not popular in Paris, and he did not anticipate any encouragement 
from that visit to London, which the emperor advised him to make. 
He was warmly received by the queen and the prince consort, 
accepted an invitation to be present at a naval review, and heard 
protestations of sympathy from Tories as well as Whigs for the Pied- 
montese constitutional government; but, beyond a manifestation of 
general interest, the English were somewhat indifferent concerning 
the national question. He saw but little of Palmerston, and did not 
have in London a renewal of such an interview as he had in Paris 
with Lord Clarendon. The steady, penetrating mind of Cavour soon 
appreciated the situation, and though he had been prematurely 
dreaming of kindling the flames of war, immediately after a recent 
peace, the illusion was only momentary. While he could not obtain 
all that he desired, he felt nevertheless that something real and prac- 
tical had been gained. The arms of Piedmont had been united with 
those of the greatest nations on earth, and she obliterated the painful 
record of her defeat at Novara by the bravery of her soldiers on 
hotly contested battle-fields, presenting the spectacle of what one of 
the French generals. Bosquet, called *'a jewel of an army." She 
had been permitted to take her seat round the green table of a con- 
gress beside France, England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia. She 
had made herself one of the European powers, and demonstrated 
that the importance of a country is measured rather by its ability 
and valor than by extent of territory. She had acquired the right to 
discuss questions previously forbidden, to speak in behalf of all Italy, 
and, indeed, to make herself the plenipotentiary of the entire country. 
What more could Cavour wish? 

When he returned to Turin after the congress, he met with the 
same opposition which had assailed him before the Crimean campaign ; 
but, while his enemies endeavored again to annoy him by asking 
what he had gained, he pointed to the results of his bold, consec- 

40 



6 1 2 ITAL V STR UGGLIXG INTO LIGHT. 

utive policy and quietly replied: "We have not reached any very 
definite object, it is true; but we have secured two things: In the 
first place, the anomalous and unhappy situation of Italy has been 
laid before Europe, not by demagogues or hot-headed revolutionists, 
nor again by excited journalists, but by the representatives of the 
highest powers of Europe; by statesmen who govern the greatest 
nations, and who are accustomed to take council of reason rather 
than emotion. In the second place, these very powers have declared 
that it was not only in the interest of Italy, but in that of Europe, 
that the ills of Italy should be remedied. I can not believe that a 
judgment passed and a counsel given by such powers as those of 
France and England can be barren of good results. The principles 
which have guided us in these last years have enabled us to make a 
great advance. For the first time in the whole course of our history 
the Italian question has been broached and discussed in a European 
congress; not as formerly at La}'bach and Verona, with a view to 
aggravate the evils Italy had to bear, and put new chains about her 
neck; but, on the contrary, with the openly avowed object of finding 
some remedy for her oppressed condition, and to exhibit the sym- 
pathies of great nations towards her. The congress is ended, and 
now the cause of Italy is brought before the tribunal of public opin- 
ion. The action may be long and the shiftings many. 
We await the issue of it with an entire confidence." Thus spoke 
Cavour before the Chamber at Turin; and parliament almost unani- 
mously approved the course pursued by the Sadinian envoys through- 
out the conference. All the Italian provinces sent in congratulatory 
addresses, and statues, busts, and medals were raised by public 
subscription in honor of the man whose name was henceforth to 
become synonymous with Italian unity and independence. He was 
every-where recognized as the representative of a revived and 
strengthened Piedmont, and Italians hailed him as the hope of Italy. 
But Cavour's work was not yet completed. During the two or 
three years following the congress of 1856 he labored to destroy 
Austria's influence, to maintain the liberal ascendancy of Piedmont, 
to rally Italian patriotic sentiment around the banner of Victor Em- 
manuel without committing himself with the different governments, 
to obtain allies by any means, to create s)'mpathy, and to prepare 
for war under cover of peace. It was difficult to pursue all these 
objects in the midst of conflicting parties, but Cavour was equal to 
the task, being, as Manzoni once said of him, "every inch a states- 
man, with all a statesman's prudence and even imprudence." He 



DEA TH OF MANIN. 6 1 3 

was deeply interested in the material advancement of Piedmont, and 
resolved to improve its fortifications. Notwithstanding the heavy 
drain upon the national exchequer, he created a great marine hospital 
at Spezzia, fortified Alessandria, and urged on the boring of the Mont 
Cenis tunnel. He believed that the latter enterprise would be of incal- 
culable commercial advantage to Piedmont. One day, on the Piazza 
d' Armi, of Turin, pointing in the direction of the Alps, he observed 
to his friends: "If Louis XIV said the Pyrenees would be no more, 
I hope some day to say with more truth that the Alps are no more." 

While promoting the material interests of the country, Cavour, 
at the same time, continued to strengthen his policy. He received 
some moral support from the national society formed at this period 
by Giuseppe La Farina, a Sicilian emigrant, who proposed to liberate 
Italy by less violent means than those adopted by Mazzini. The 
latter was at Genoa in 1857, superintending the popular outbreak 
there. The insurrection also extended to Leghorn and Naples, but 
there was a division in the republican ranks. Manin and other 
leaders were opposed to the movement and the result was failure. 
Cavour was not in sympathy with Mazzini's methods, and hence his 
indorsement of La Farina's society. When in Paris, at the congress 
of 1856, the Piedmontese minister had an interview with Manin, who, 
during an exile of seven years, had been supporting his family by 
giving lessons in Italian. He still advocated independence and 
national unity for Italy, and occasionally expressed his views in the 
Presse Steele and Estafette, newspapers of Paris, in the Times and 
Daily Neibs, of London, and in the Diidtto, of Turin. He was broken 
by family affliction, having lost by death his wife, and then an 
accomplished daughter, who was in his eyes the pathetic image of 
his beloved Venice. These bereavements, together with a malady 
which had long impaired his health, hastened him on to the close of 
life. Cavour found him no less devoted to Italian independence than 
in the past, but he accepted the Paris negotiations and expressed his 
willingness to favor any policy that would lead to national freedom 
and unity, and especially to a republic. The great statesman of 
Venice died on the 22d of September, 1857, and was buried at 
Montmartre. The French government did not interfere with the 
publicity of the funeral, which was attended by a vast concourse of 
people, including many strangers from Paris. 

The public mind was deeply moved by the attempts of misguided 
individuals to assassinate crowned heads. A powder magazine and 
vessels of war were exploded at Naples, and a soldier named Agesilas 



6 1 4 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Milano sought to take the hfe of the king. It is true that the des- 
potic acts of that monarch had been so rigorous that France and 
England, in 1856, engaged in a diplomatic intervention to restrain 
him, yet few of his subjects favored violent means to secure relief. 
The national policy of Cavour was seriously embarrassed by the effort 
of Felice Orsini, an Italian, to assassinate the emperor and empress 
of France as they entered the Opera House in Paris on the evening 
of January 14, 1858. The papal nuncio had not hesitated to tell 
Napoleon that "these were the fruits of the revolutionary passions 
fostered by Count Cavour." The embassador of the Emperor Francis 
Joseph had immediately asked whether the time had not yet come 
in which to "establish between France a mutual understanding, in 
order to constrain Piedmont to leave off protecting the machinations 
of the refugees and the license of the press." Soon after Orsini's 
rash attempt Victor Emmanuel sent General della Rocca to congrat- 
ulate the emperor on his escape, and also, perhaps, to appease him. 
Soon afterwards the king wrote a confidential letter to Napoleon, and 
the latter in reply expressed his satisfaction with the attitude of Pied- 
mont. The emperor's anger was gradually disappearing, and he even 
admitted that if there were any conspirators it was not Piedmont, 
but the hazardous situation of Italy, to blame. At the Tuileries it 
had come to be repeated that, "So long as there should be Austrians 
in Italy there would be attempts of assassination in Paris ; that Count 
Cavour was in the right and ought to be seconded." 

Napoleon desired that the Italians should understand his views of 
the situation, and he actually sent the letters which Orsini had writ- 
ten to him from his prison to Count Villamarina, with orders to send 
them to Turin. They were published in the Moniteur at Paris, and 
the following extract indicates their contents: "Let your majesty call 
to mind that the Italians, among whom was my father, shed their 
blood freely and joyfully for Napoleon the Great, that they continued 
faithful to him until his downfall. Let it not be forgotten that the 
peace of Europe and that of your majesty will remain a mere chimera 
as long as Italy is not free. If your majesty will but deliver my 
country the benedictions of twenty-five millions of men will resound 
from generation to generation." Orsini was executed, and his letters 
appeared in the official gazette of Turin. Then followed a strange 
diplomatic scene — the meeting of Napoleon and Cavour at Plombi^res 
on the 20th of July, 1858. An alliance was agreed upon, embracing 
a war with Austria, the formation of an Italian kingdom of eleven 
millions of souls, and the cession of Savoy and Nice to France. 



THE EVENTS OF A DECADE, 615 



Sixth Decade, Continued, 1850-1860. 



Chapter XIV. 

ITALY BEFORE AND AFTER THE PEACE OF VILLAFRANCA. 

WITH the beginning of the year 1859 ^^^ national drama of 
Italy was hastening to its crisis. In the early part of 1849, 
on the 23d of March, Piedmont, conquered and humiliated, fell on 
the battle-field of Novara, holding in her hand only a torn flag and 
a broken sword. She was destitute of allies, and the comparatively 
few friends she had were more inclined to blame her rashness than to 
sympathize w^ith her in her misfortune or to render her assistance. 
Austria had been successful through her powerful armies ; and the 
triumph of the reactionary party in the Sardinian parliament was 
secured by magnifying the dangers of disorderly revolutions. For a 
considerable length of time the prospect on the other side of the Alps 
was gloomy; but in the first days of 1859 the Italian situation had 
changed. The attention of Europe was again directed towards Pied- 
mont, and the Italian question was the absorbing topic both in dip- 
lomatic and popular circles. 

The policy inaugurated at Turin ten years previous, and vigor- 
ously pursued, had guided Piedmont from Novara to the Crimean 
War ; from the Congress at Paris to the negotiations of Plombi^res. 
Austria had been isolated within her contested dominions ; a united 
Italian sentiment rallied around a national monarchy ; the question 
of independence had been separated from that of revolution ; and the 
foreign ministers had been awakened to a realization of Italy's situa- 
tion. These were some of the results of this ten years' policy, wiiich 
a remarkable combination of circumstances made successful. There 
were displayed wisdom in its inception and courage in its prosecu- 
tion, and when the proper time arrived friends came forward to be 
the supporters of one of the most difficult enterprises. Napoleon and 
Cavour, though different in position, character, and mind, supple- 
mented each the other. The resemblance between them was slight, 
and they stand before us on the historic page in vivid and strange 
contrast with each other. They came into collision more than once, 
and yet they mutually attracted each other, because each felt that the 
other was necessary to him. 



6l6 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Cavour regarded Napoleon III as a powerful and perhaps danger- 
ous ally, the ruler of one of the most prominent European countries, 
and the head of an army still considered invincible. Napoleon III 
found in Cavour the model foreign minister, and the instrument of his 
peculiar views concerning Italy; "the man best calculated," says De 
Mazade, *'to sweep him on, to oppose him, if necessary, and ease 
him of the burden of his irresoluteness by putting pressure upon him, 
in offering him, in a variety of ways, the occasion of deciding, and 
acting upon his decision." It is said that during the interview at 
Plombieres the emperor, then believing that he had unlimited power, 
remarked to Cavour: "Do you know that there are but three men 
in Europe: we two, and a third I will not name?" No one knew 
what person was meant by the "third ;" but the other two met in the 
little town of Vosges, and the result was a coincidence in the begin- 
ning of 1859 — ^^^ scene at the Tuileries on the 1st of January, and 
the thrilling speech of Victor Emmanuel in the parliament at Turin, 
on the loth of the same month. 'The king, at the opening of the 
chambers, said: "Our horizon is not at all clear. Our country, small 
indeed territorially, has yet become influential in Europe, through the 
greatness of the ideas it represents and the sympathies it inspires. 
This situation is by no means without its dangers ; for while we 
would respect treaties, we can not remain insensible to the cry of 
anguish which reaches us from so many parts of Italy." Victor 
Emmanuel would not have spoken with such boldness unless he had 
received definite promises from Napoleon III, and the latter no doubt 
had known and approved of it beforehand. It was a part of his tac- 
tics that his ally should say what he would not, or could not, as yet 
say himself. Cavour understood the meaning of the words carelessly 
spoken by the emperor to M. de Hubner, and on hearing them he 
remarked with a smile: "The emperor means to go ahead, it appears." 

In a few days subsequently the public mind was startled by 
another incident of great political significance. It was known almost 
simultaneously that Prince Napoleon, accompanied by General Niel, 
had left Paris for Turin, and that the marriage of a Bonaparte with 
the Princess Clotilde of Savoy was accomplished. Before the 30tli 
of January all was settled at Turin, where the excited populace dis- 
cussed this union of the dynasties and interpreted it as the promise 
of events at hand. The personal and implied understanding which 
had previously existed between the emperor and the king assumed a 
more distinct form, diplomatically, after the i8th of January, and 
became a regular alliance in anticipation of an attack on the part of 



THE AR CHD UKE MAXIMILIAN. 6 1 / 

Austria. On the morrow of the marriage of Prince Napoleon and 
the Princess Clotilde there appeared suddenly in Paris a startling 
pamphlet, "Napoleon III and Italy," known to be inspired by the 
emperor. It contained a whole programme of Italian reorganization, 
by national federation, without foreign interference. 

How rapidly consecutive events crowded each other, and how 
marked the changes within a short period! The speech of Victor 
Emmanuel was a supplement to the words spoken by Napoleon III 
to Baron Hubner, and these two public acts were crowned by the 
family alliance, and by the imperial manifesto, which brought the 
problem of the destinies of Italy before Europe, as though the 
treaties of 1815 were not in existence. The crisis reached its culmi- 
nation in a few days; but nothing was decided, and it was uncertain 
whether the knot would have to be finally cut by the sword or untied 
by diplomacy. Indeed, all Europe was deeply agitated during the 
Winter of 1859, ^^ ^^^^ result of the struggle between the pacific' 
and warlike elements. The situation was truly singular; a conflict 
seemed inevitable, and yet the real question of the hour remained 
obscure. Diplomacy did not know how to take hold of this Italian 
problem, and it was evident that, from various considerations, the 
difficulties could be adjusted only by an appeal to force. Even Ca- 
vour, who alone of all the actors in the great drama fully realized 
how much Italy had at stake, spent nearly four months of this 
curious phase in Italian history without apparently accomplishing any 
thing for the national movement. At one time he would pursue a 
course that promised satisfactory results ; at another, he seemed to 
yield to the projects of negotiations coming from every direction ; and 
these perplexities caused him to advance more slowly than usual. 

If Austria had taken the initiative and manifested a conciliatory 
spirit she might easily have divested the question of its difficulties 
and confused her enemies. She seemed once disposed to adopt a 
policy of reconciliation, and, accordingly, in the year 1858, the Arch- 
duke Maximilian was sent by the cabinet at Vienna as viceroy to 
Lombardy on a mission of peace. This ill-fated prince, doomed to 
the sad Mexican tragedy, arrived at Venice and Milan full of liberal 
views and designs. He had much in his favor — youth, amiability, 
and dignity. For his support he had Austria, and for wise counsel 
he had the prudent Leopold, of Belgium, whose daughter he had just 
married — thus securing, also, through this king the best wishes of 
England. Maximilian entered upon his work earnestly, and perhaps 
hopefully. During an excursion on the Lago Maggiore, and in a con- 



6 1 8 ITAL y STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

versation with the Prussian minister at Turin, Count Brassier de 
Saint Simon, he spoke of Cavour in the warmest terms. ** I greatly 
admire Count Cavour," he said, "but as the business in contempla- 
tion is a policy of progress, I shall not let him outstrip me." Cavour, 
always vigilant and profiting by every circumstance, watched this 
movement of the Archduke Maximilian, and subsequently he ac- 
knowledged that it might have defeated all his plans. 

Austria could have been magnanimous, because her territorial 
possessions and military power were so great that she could make 
concessions without being considered dishonorable. By conforming 
to a liberal policy she might have weakened the national Italian senti- 
ment, and by an administration less rigid she would have convinced 
Europe of her generosity toward Italy. Maximilian himself might 
have ruled the disputed territory with mildness. How different then 
might events Jiave been from the war of 1859 ^*^ ^^^ '^^'^^ of 1866, 
and all that since occurred — not forgetting Mexico! If Austria had 
not succeeded in this policy, it was at least worth an experiment; but 
she became alarmed too soon, and discovering certain indications of a 
public crisis, she fell back on her "traditions of immobility and repres- 
sion." This was not the first time that she had taken the wrong step, 
which in every case led to heavy losses. She not only canceled the 
mission of the Archduke Maximilian, but also exaggerated her mili- 
tary rule in all her Italian possessions. Before January i, 1859, ^^ 
had already commenced her preparations for war, and on the morrow 
of this date she sent army corps after army corps into Italy, organiz- 
ing her forces as on the eve of a campaign, and even taking a posi- 
tion on the Ticino, in the face of Piedmont. Some of her officers 
permitted their belligerent dispositions to lead them into imprudent 
actions of a serious character, and at their banquet tables in Milan 
they talked confidently of a speedy departure for Turin, which they 
declared was to be the first stage of a march on Paris. 

Austria seemed blind to the fact that her haste and feverish man- 
ner exposed her from day to day to a fit of rashness by the excess 
of her military display and of her expenditure. Those who were 
endeavoring to secure peace were disarmed in advance by her posi- 
tion, and she was unconsciously playing the game of her enemies. 
At any rate she had given Piedmont a pretext for war, and the latter 
country resolved to profit by it. The fortresses of Alessandria and 
Casale were made ready, and the regiments scattered on both sides 
of the Alps were brought together. The parliament voted a loan 
of two millions sterling because it was rendered necessary by the 



ENGLISH NEG O TIA TIONS, 6 1 9 

'^provocation of Austria;" and thus the two powers were ah'eady 
face to face, opposing armament to armament, and demonstration to 
demonstration. The vexed question of peace or war was about to 
be solved. The wish was strongly for peace, and diplomacy endeav- 
ored to preserve it; but what could be done in such a state of affairs? 
All these incidents had inflamed public sentiment, which was on the 
verge of explosion. 

England, represented by the Tory ministry of Lord Derby and 
Lord Malmesbury, was more anxious for peace than the other 
powers. All Europe was divided, and England herself, who was 
expected to take the lead in the discussion and negotiations, was 
deeply perplexed. She was unhappily in an embarrassing position, 
desiring to maintain her traditional Continental policy, which held 
her to the treaties of 18 15 and Austria, and yet sympathizing with 
the cause of freedom in Piedmont and Italy. The growing intimacy 
of France with Turin made England uneasy, and she was anxious 
about her commercial interests. In order to secure peace she wished 
to remove that which menaced it, and therefore endeavored to con- 
ciliate all the parties concerned — Austria, France, and Piedmont ; but 
she failed to observe that her urgent requests of each imperiled her 
chances of success with them all. 

When England appealed to Vienna Count Buol Schauenstein, 
minister of the Emperor Francis Joseph, replied, impatiently: ''You 
are mistaken. It is not here that you should come with your en- 
treaties and your counsels : go to Paris and Turin, and speak your 
mind out plainly there. Let the Emperor Napoleon learn that if his 
army crosses the Alps England will not look on quietly; let the 
king of Piedmont know that England sanctions no plundering of the 
Austrian possessions in Italy. If the queen's ministers hold a reso- 
lute language we shall have no war. Italy is not in want of recon- 
struction; let them cease to stir her up, and we shall hear no more of it. " 

The English cabinet then consulted the authorities at Turin, and 
was advised if it desired peace to apply to Vienna, whose dominion 
in Italy was the source of existing difficulties because it menaced 
constitutional liberty in Piedmont, and constantly excited revolution- 
ary passions. Besides, it was claimed that, even admitting Austria 
to be on the legal ground of 18 15 in her control of Milan, she was 
not so in her occupation of Bologna and Ancona for a perid of ten 
years, reducing the central duchies to a condition of vassalage, and 
converting Piacenza into an imperial fortress on the frontier of 
Piedmont. 



620 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

England, in her peaceful mission, was encouraged by the emperor 
of France, who disavowed the very idea of an aggressive policy, and 
assumed the position of a judicious adviser and friend, declaring that 
she endeavored to interest Russia and Germany in her cause by ex- 
tending the war and opening the conflict on the Rhine as well as on 
the Po; but she was not successful. A warlike feeling had made her 
reckless, and, wishing to bring the matter to a definite point, she 
resolved without further delay to send an ultimatum direct to Turin, 
summoning Piedmont to disarm, and allowing her three days to con- 
sider the question. This step delighted Cavour, and his only regret 
was that Austria did not proceed further. 

On the 19th of April the ultimatum was ready to be launched at 
him from Vienna, but Cavour could not know it. On the 20th, 
however, the first indications of the coming coup de theatre were 
apparent to him. He was in the Chamber of deputies, at the Carig- 
nano Palace, on the 23d of April, when a word hastily written by 
one of his intimate friends informed him of the arrival of Baron 
Kellersperg, bearer of a communication from Count Buol. At half- 
past five o'clock on the same afternoon, while at the ministry of for- 
eign affairs, Cavour received from the hands of the Austrian envoy 
this communication, which commanded Piedmont to disarm. Three 
days later, at the same hour, he delivered the reply of the Piedmon- 
tese government to Baron Kellersperg, whose hand he courteously 
pressed when he assured him of the happiness he would have to 
meet him again "under more favorable auspices." He immedi- 
ately gave his final orders to Colonel Govone, who was appointed 
to accompany the Austrian officer to the frontier, and then, address- 
ing himself to some friends who witnessed the scene, he exclaimed, 
with a friendly familiarity, and in a natural tone peculiar to him, 
"It's done; Alea facta est! we have made some history — and now 
to dinner." 

Austria, no doubt, felt that she had been compelled to adopt ex- 
treme measures by the pressure of circumstances. This vexed Italian 
question annoyed and threatened her on every side, and she desired 
to defend herself by having it decided vi et annis. It was her mis- 
fortune, however, to provoke actual war, alienating Europe, chilling 
England, and strengthening Piedmont, whose cabinet instantly re- 
ceived this message from Paris, "The fullest aid from France." 

On the morning of the 30th of April the first French columns 
descended from the Alps and debouched in the Piazza Castello of 
Turin, in the midst of an excited population. Cavour was standing 



MILITAR V OPERA TIONS. 62 1 

on the balcony of the ministry of foreign affairs with other distin 
guished persons, French and Itahan, and also Sir James Hudson, the 
English minister. The brave Italian statesman, who had worked ten 
years and had gone to the Crimea and to Plombieres to hasten this 
"crucial hour," beheld in this thrilling spectacle the triumphant 
march of his policy. A ie.vj days later Napoleon III, who personally 
commanded the main body of the French army, which had sailed 
from Marseilles, disembarked at Genoa, and when he met Cavour 
said to him, *'You ought to be satisfied; your aims are being real- 
ized." In one sense war was a blessing to Cavour, because he was 
delivered from the anxieties and uncertainties of a long diplomatic 
imbroglio ; but another aspect now presented itself. Instead of talking 
about it, he must engage in the conflict of arms, thus emerging from 
a ten years' dream into a living reality. This change was simply 
laying down one burden and taking up another. The position of 
Cavour was not one of ease, especially in the earlier period of the 
war, when the enemy might have appeared at any time before Turin. 
Indeed, if the Austrians had been more aggressive they might have 
defeated the combinations of their adversaries before Piedmont and 
France could have united their armies. 

When the formal demand of Austria that the Sardinian army 
should be reduced to a peace footing was refused, the Austrian 
troops immediately crossed the Ticino and entered the Piedmontese 
territory. If they had taken advantage of their superior numbers, 
and marched boldly on Turin, Piedmont and her allies would have 
met with a disaster in the very beginning of the conflict. But Aus- 
tria, having committed an error of diplomatic rashness, added to it 
the greater blunder of military delay. Marshal Canrobert fortunately 
succeeded in deceiving and intimidating the Austrians by throwing 
out, on the 29th of April, his first French lines to Casale. Cavour 
was prepared for the worst, neither hesitating to defend Turin to the 
last, nor, if necessary, to inundate the Lomellina for the purpose of, 
arresting the progress of the enemy. Having challenged this war, 
he bravely met its risks and difficulties. 

During these perilous and anxious days his labors were herculean. 
Remaining alone at Turin, while the king and General La Marmora 
went to the camp, he was at the same time president of the council, 
minister for foreign affairs, minister of the interior, minister of ma- 
rine, and minister of war. He was truly every thing, and equal to 
all his arduous duties. Having resolved to stand in the center of 
these weighty responsibilities he was pressed on every side, and even 



622 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

transferred his bed, for which he seemed to have but httle use, to 
the war -office. The battle-field in which he constantly fought was 
his bureaus, and there he exhibited remarkable energy and tact, pro- 
tracting- his labors far into the night, hurrying from one department 
to another in his dressing-gown, dictating dispatches, transmitting 
orders, overseeing the equipment of the volunteers, directing the 
operations on the field, and at the same time conducting a volumi- 
nous correspondence. He stimulated the dilatory, encouraged the 
despondent, and inflamed the lukewarm with a portion of his own 
fire and patriotism. 

Nothing could intimidate or perplex him. On a certain day in 
the month of Ma}- the French army was reduced to extremities; but 
Cavour solved the problem in twenty-four hours. The Piedmontese 
government had entered into a special contract to provide food for 
the French army up to a given date. The day arrived, and the 
French military administration was seriously embarrassed in view of 
the morrow. This intelligence surprised and annoyed the emperor, 
who was in camp at Alessandria, and he sent Cavaliere Nigra, whom 
he kept near him, to Turin. Cavour was vexed at the bad manage- 
ment, and hastened to amend it. The mayors of all the communes 
within reach of the lines of railroad were immediately ordered to 
obtain all the meal they could find, heat the bakeries, and make as 
much bread on the spot as they could, without a moment's delay, 
and then transport it to the nearest stations. The result was that 
next morning there was more provision at Alessandria than was 
needed ! This is one case among many illustrating the activity and 
promptness of Cavour in civil and military affairs. 

"Courage, my friends," he exclaims, "and we will give to Italy 
the ^regeneration dreamed of by Gioberti." Republicans turned their 
backs upon Mazzini, and, rallying under the leadership of Daniel 
Manin, replied, "Regenerate Italy, and we are with you." The 
Societa Nazionale inscribed upon its banners, "Independence, Unifi- 
cation, and the House of Savoy." The flower of the Italian youth 
flocked around the standard of Garibaldi, where it floated from the 
crest of the Apennines, asking for nothing more than the privilege 
of fighting and dying for Italy; while thirty thousand volunteers, 
with swords half- drawn, impatiently awaited the signal to launch 
themselves upon the legions of Austria, whose arms were glittering 
upon the banks of the Ticino. While Napoleon III espoused the 
cause of Sardinia he was careful to state his reasons, so that the other 
powders might understand the position of France. Hence, before 



THE BATTLE OF MONTEDELLO. 623 

leaving Paris, he issued a proclamation containing these words : 
"Austria has brought things to such a pass that sJie must lot'd it up 
to the AlpSy or else Italy must be free up to the Adiiatic ; for in that 
country every nook of earth holding independence is a danger to the 
power of Austria. . . . The aim of this war is to restore Italy 
to herself, not that she should change masters ; and we shall have on 
our frontiers a friendly power, owing their liberty to us." The em- 
peror added, also: "We do not enter Italy to foment disorder, nor 
to shatter the authority of the Holy Father, whom we have replaced 
on his throne, but to relieve it of a foreign burden weighing upon 
the whole Peninsula." 

The first battle of the campaign was fought at Montebello, a 
small village in Sardinia, on the road which passes from Alessandria 
and Voghera through Casteggio to Piacenza, about five miles south 
of the Po, and one mile west of Casteggio. The allies, whose head- 
quarters during the month of May were at Alessandria, endeavored 
prior to crossing the Mincio at Turbigo and Buffalora to create the 
impression that they intended to attack by Pavia and Piacenza, and 
with this view concentrated a large part of their force in that direc- 
tion. The Austrian commander. Count Gyulai, deceived by their 
movements, accordingly ordered General Stadion to cross the Po 
below Pavia with twenty thousand men, and march along the south 
bank of the river, in order to make a reconnoissance in force. 
About eleven oclock two brigades of his detachment, under General 
Urban, reached Casteggio, which they found occupied by a regiment 
of Sardinians and five hundred men of General Forey's division, be- 
longing to the corps of Baraguay d' Hilliers. These were soon over- 
powered and driven back through Montebello and Ginestrello toward 
Voghera ; but^ re-enforced by the arrival of successive detachments 
frpm Voghera, they rallied and obliged the Austrians to fall back 
upon Montebello. Here a final stand was made. General Urban, 
by his rapid advance, had deprived himself of the assistance of most 
of the remainder of Stadion's force, while the French continued to 
receive accessions — train after train arriving by railway, discharging 
its hundreds, and hastening back for more. General Forey, bringing 
up his left to the north of the village, opened there an effective fire 
of artillery, while his right wing was engaged in a hot hand-to-hand 
conflict on the south. The Austrian brigades of Bils and the prince 
of Hesse at last came up ; but the allies continued to maintain a su- 
periority, and about dusk the Austrians retreated. They were not 
pursued. Their loss, in killed, wounded, and missing, was officially 



624 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

stated as twelve hundred and ninety-one, and that of the aUies as 
eight hundred and fifty. The Austrians, according to French ac- 
counts, had thirteen thousand men in action, while the allies had 
seven thousand. Both sides claimed the advantage of the battle. 
The result of the five hours' struggle was that the Austrians learned 
the strength of their adversaries, while the allies confirmed Count 
Gyulai in the belief that they were about to march toward Pavia. 

This victory of the allies on the 20th of May was followed by 
another at Palestro on the 30th and 31st of the same month. But on 
the 4th of June, 1859, the Austrians met with a more disastrous de- 
feat at Magenta, a town of Lombardy, situated about five miles from 
the east or left bank of the Ticino, and fifteen miles west of Milan, 
with which city it is connected by railroad. It is also the first stage 
on the road from Novara to Milan, being nearly equidistant from the 
two places, and has about six thousand inhabitants. Before the 
decisive battle of Magenta occurred, the opposing forces fought at 
different places. The French, wishing to deceive the Austrians, 
marched from Alessandria eastward in the direction of Piacenza, and, 
on the 31st of May, suddenly crossed the Po at Casale, and, while the 
Sardinians menaced the enemy's position at Mortara, midway be- 
tween the Po and Ticino, the French moved toward the north, occu- 
pied Novara, and threw three bridges across the Ticino at Turbigo, 
about eight miles above Magenta. The Austrian troops thereupon 
withdrew across the river into the Lombard territory, and fortified 
the bridge of Buffalora, over which passes the road from Novara 
through Magenta to Milan ; but on the 2d of June they were com- 
pelled to retire before a French corps under General Espinasse, after 
an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the bridge. On the 4th of June 
M'Mahon's corps, followed by a division of the imperial guard, and 
a division of the Sardinian army, having crossed at Turbigo, marched 
along the left bank toward Magenta, while the emperor in person ad- 
vanced with the grenadier division of the imperial guard to occupy the 
bridge of Buffalora, leaving orders for Canrobert to follow. The lattei 
was delayed, but the grenadiers began the contest unassisted, at noon, 
and, after two hours' desperate fighting, captured the position, and 
took possession of the heights on the canal, in the face of an Aus- 
trian force, estimated by the French at one hundred and twenty-five 
thousand. 

The Austrian commander. Count Gyulai, at once dispatched Baron 
Reischach to retake the bridge ; but after a conflict of two houns 
more, in which it was seven times taken and lost, the arrival of Can- 



FRANCO-PIEDMONTESE VICTORY. 625 

robert, Regnault de St. Jean d'Angely, Neil, and Vinoy turned the 
scale in favor of the French, though not until great loss had been 
suffered on both sides. The third Austrian army corps was ordered 
up from Abbiate Grasso on the south, and assailed the French flank 
with much spirit, but was finally compelled to fall back upon Ro- 
becco. In the mean time M'Mahon's advance from Turbigo had 
been several times checked by the enemy, who, on evacuating Buffa- 
lora, concentrated the principal part of their force between him and 
Magenta. A large detachment attempted to separate the divisions 
of La Motterouge and Espinasse, but was finally driven back by the 
voltigeurs of the guard under General Canou, while the forty-fifth 
regiment of the line made a heroic and successful attack upon a 
farm-house, defended by two Hungarian regiments, and General 
Auger planted a battery of forty guns on the railway, from which he 
poured a tremendous fire upon the Austrians in flank. On reaching 
the town of Magenta M'Mahon found it occupied by seven thou- 
sand of the enemy under Clam-Gallas, and the second army corps 
under Prince Liechtenstein. The combat here was terrible. Both 
sides felt Magenta to be the key of the position, and the attack and 
defense were conducted with equal bravery and determination. The 
French took it house by house, losing, by their own account, fifteen 
hundred men, but making five thousand prisoners and placing ten 
thousand Austrians Jiors du combat. At half-past eight o'clock in the 
evening Gyulai ordered a general retreat, leaving four guns in posses- 
sion of the French. His official report gave his own loss at nine 
thousand seven hundred and thirteen, killed, wounded, and missing, 
and that of the enemy at six thousand killed and wounded. The 
French accounts acknowledge a loss of four thousand nine hundred 
and fifty-seven, and estimate that of Gyulai at tw^enty thousand, 
including seven thousand prisoners. The French generals, Espinasse 
and Clerc, were among the killed. The immediate results of the 
battle were the evacuation of Milan by the Austrians and its occupa- 
tion by the allies. General M'Mahon was mainly instrumental in 
securing this victory, and the emperor conferred upon him the titles 
of marshal of France and duke of Magenta. 

On the 8th of June Victor Emmanuel and Napoleon HI entered 
Milan in triumph. The latter addressed serious words to the Italians, 
saying: ''Providence sometimes favors a people by giving them the 
opportunity to spring to life at a blow ; but it is on the condition that 
they shall know how to profit by it. Profit, then, by the good for- 
tune offered to you ! Unite in a common aim, the deliverance of 



626 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

your country. Give yourselves military organization. Fly to the 
banner of Victor Emmanuel, who has so nobly shown you the path 
of honor; . . . and, animated by the sacred fire of patriotism, 
be but soldiers to-day, to-morrow you will be citizens of a great 
country." These prophetic words were soon fulfilled. In the last 
days of April, at the opening of the war, Tuscany, Modena, and 
Parma rose in revolt, and their dukes fled to the Austrian territory. 
Victor Emmanuel was proclaimed dictator of Tuscany. He declined 
the title, but took command of the Tuscan army, which was united 
with his own forces. Towards the middle of June, 1859, ^^ Aus- 
trians, anxious to have all their troops on the Adige, hastily aban- 
doned the papal territory, Ancona and Bologna, which they had 
occupied for ten years, and the Romagna immediately and sponta- 
neously joined the movement. 

Thus, without a struggle, "a half-emancipated Italy," follow- 
ing in the track of the armies, looked toward Piedmont. Cavour 
regarded this as the most delicate question connected with the 
w^ar, and he therefore closely watched it — marking day by day 
the successive steps in the work of liberation. He deeply sympa- 
thized with it, and desired to direct it to the best advantage, because 
it was one of the sources of his strength. He had sent Count Pal- 
lieri to Parma, the devoted and ardent Farini to Modena, and the 
sagacious Boncompagni to Florence. The position at Bologna was a 
difficult one, and Cavour reserved for it Massimo d'Azeglio, whose 
lofty mind and noted loyalty gave to his name an authority which 
was calculated to exact obedience. These provinces had thrown off 
the Austrian yoke, and the men whom Cavour sent to govern them 
received these instructions: ** Repression in the cause of order, ac- 
tivity on behalf of the war; what remains leave to the future." He 
w^rote to Signor Vigliani, a Piedmontese magistrate of a liberal and 
conciliatory disposition, whom he had appointed governor of Milan, 
"We are not in 1848; we permit of no discussion. Take no notice 
of the excitement of those who surround you. The smallest act of 
weakness wrecks the government." 

The lieutenants of Cavour were every-where, even in the camp 
of Garibaldi, whither he had sent a young Lombard, Emilio Vis- 
conti-Venosta — who has since been minister of foreign affairs — who 
there served as royal commissioner with the Chasseur of the Alps, 
with whom he made the campaign. While adhering as much as pos- 
sible to the imperial programme, Cavour directed the whole Italian 
movement, military and diplomatic. But serious difficulties con- 



THE OPPOSING FORCES. 627 

fronted the allies. In approaching the Mincio and the Adige, the 
French and Piedmontese armies, besides skirmishing, were compelled 
to engage in the heavier work of conducting sieges and carrying for- 
midable positions. In a short time the impregnable Quadrilateral 
would frown upon them. The situation was rendered more compli- 
cated, however, by European diplomacy, which appeared disposed to 
interfere. Prussia, without exhibiting any hostility, seemed inclined 
to take a more active part. The provinces of the pope were dis- 
turbed by these successive Italian movements, and the animosities 
and suspicions that were excited against what was called ''Piedmon- 
tese ambition" were felt in Paris, and all these circumstances had 
their effect upon Napoleon III, whom they soon reached at head- 
quarters in the heart of Lombardy. The policy that could not pre- 
vent the war now endeavored to limit and stop it as much as possible 
by arousing the doubts and fears of the emperor, who, already past 
fifty years of age, experienced the fatigue resulting from the oppress- 
ive heat of a torrid season. 

But the culminating point was about to be reached in the bloody 
and decisive battle of Solferino. After their defeat at Magenta, the 
Austrians, unwilling to risk a defense of the lines of the Adda and 
Oglio rivers continued their retreat along the north bank of the Po, 
within the quadrangle of the fortresses of Peschiera, Verona, Mantua, 
and Legnano. Gyulai had been deposed in consequence of the de- 
feat of Magenta, and General Count Schlick was his successor. The 
allies kept the northerly road, and crossed the Adda and the Oglio 
without opposition. On the 22d of June both armies were so nearly 
face to face that a conflict seemed inevitable. The allies were en- 
camped between the Chiese and the Mincio, occupying Lenato, Cas- 
tigliona, and Montechiara, and having their l,eft wing resting on the 
high ground near Brescia and the southern end of the Lake of Garda. 
At their extreme left was General Garibaldi, who, with the Cacciatori 
delli Alpi, a body of volunteers, after a most daring and brilliant 
series of maneuvers round the extreme northern frontiers of Lom- 
bardy, had come down on the Lake of Garda. The Austrian forces 
were on the left bank of the Mincio, resting with their right on 
Peschiera and Verona, and with their left wing on Mantua. 

On the 23d of June the Austrians poured out their numbers 
from Mantua, Verona, and Peschiera, and, led by their young em- 
peror, Francis Joseph, who had assumed the command-in-chief, in the 
course of the evening crossed the Mincio at four different places, 
confident of defeating the allies, and driving them beyond the Chiese. 

41 



628 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

On the 24th of June, 1859, one of the bloodiest battles on record 
occurred. The Austrians began the attack at daylight, and by ten 
o'clock the whole of the two armies had come into collision. There 
were four French corps engaged, under Marshals Baraguay d' Hil- 
liers, MacMahon, Canrobert, and Niel; and four divisions of the 
Sardinian army, under the command of Victor Emmanuel. The bat- 
tle lasted fifteen hours, and extended along a line of nearly eighteen 
miles, from the neighborhood of Brescia down toward Mantua. The 
right wing of the Austrians occupied Pozzolengo, where they met the 
Sardinians ; their center was at Caviana and Solferino, while their left 
wing marched on Guidinolo and Castel Goffredo, and for a time suc- 
ceeded in repulsing the French. 

The day was decided by a concentrated attack made about three 
o'clock in the afternoon by the French emperor on Solferino, a vil- 
lage in the province of Lombardy, twenty miles south-east of Brescia, 
having a commanding position, which the Austrians had fortified. 
After several hours of desperate fighting, the place was carried by 
the French, who, thereby breaking the Austrian center, moved large 
masses against their left wing, which, having pushed on almost to 
the Chiese, was in danger of being surrounded. and cut out. Late in 
the evening, the young emperor of Austria, with tears in his eyes, 
saw that the day was irretrievably lost, and gave the order for the 
retreat beyond the Mincio, which was accomplished under the pro- 
tection of a violent storm. 

Few battles in modern history have been marked with more 
slaughter and horror. More than three hundred thousand human 
beings were engaged in this terrible combat, and at night thirty-five 
thousand of them at least were dead or dying. The French, ac- 
cording to their own statement, had twelve thousand seven hundred 
and twenty killed and wounded, and the Sardinians, five thousand 
five hundred and twenty-five. The Austrian loss, which was put 
by them at eleven thousand, two hundred and thirteen, is generally 
asserted to have exceeded eighteen thousand. Numerous prisoners, 
thirteen pieces of cannon, two flags, and large quantities of arms and 
ammunition fell into the hands of the allies ; and Napoleon III slept 
at Solferino, in the very same apartment which Francis Joseph had 
occupied the previous night. After the battle of Solferino, the com- 
mand-in-chief of the Austrians was given to Baron Hess, who offered 
no opposition to the passage of the Mincio by the allies. On the ist 
of July the latter received a re-enforcement of thirty-five thousand 
men, brought by Prince Napoleon through Florence and Modena. 



AN ARMISTICE PROPOSED. 



629 



While the Sardinians were investing Peschiera, a French division 
was at Goito to watch Mantua ; Garibaldi's Cacciatori dclli Alpi, sup- 
ported by General Cialdini's division, were moving to close up the 




GENERAL CIALDINI. 



valley of the Adige ; and the emperor, with the main body of the 
army, was approaching Verona, the startling news was received that 
Napoleon III had sent General Fleury, on the evening of the 7th of 
July, to the Austrian camp at Verona, to propose an armistice, and 



630 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

that commissioners had been actually appointed to agree upon its 
terms. Events presented a more pacific appearance. ''Indeed, the 
glorious and bloody battle of Solferino, " says D'Mazade, "was but the 
final co7ip de soleily which, so to say, ripened the situation." It seemed 
doubtful to the emperor whether the Austrians could be driven from 
the famous "Quadrilateral," and the frightful carnage he had already 
witnessed made him less disposed to continue the war. "I have lost 
ten thousand men," he said on a certain day, soon after the conflict, 
and the tone of his voice indicated the intensity of his feeling. He 
received from Paris the news of the threatening attitude of Prussia, 
and feared that she might, as the ally of Austria, appear on the scene. 

All these considerations profoundly moved the mind of Napoleon 
III, and he found himself face to face Avith a serious embarrassment. 
He had entered into the war with a sincere determination to deliver 
all Italy from the Austrian yoke ; but the participation of Prussia in 
the conflict as the enemy of France would compel him to make extra- 
ordinary efforts to protect his eastern frontier, and would oblige him 
to leave Italy at the mercy of Austria, which was more than a match 
for her. Other powers might be drawn into the struggle, and there 
was a very decided probability that, in a general European war, Italy 
might lose all that had been won. It appeared best to Napoleon, 
therefore, as the disinterested friend of Italy, to bring the war to a 
close, and to rest satisfied with what had been gained. Accordingly 
the two emperors met at Villafranca, on the road to Verona, and 
there, on the nth of July, signed a treaty of peace, the basis of 
which Avas thus vaguely announced: 

"Italian confederation under the honorary presidency of the 
pope. I. The emperor of Austria cedes his rights to Lombardy 
to the emperor of the French, Avho transfers them to the king of 
Sardinia. 2. The emperor of Austria preserves Venice; but she 
will form an integral part of the Italian confederation. 3. General 
amnesty." 

These preliminaries included several details. Austria surrendered 
to France all of Lombardy, except the fortresses of Mantua and 
Peschiera, and this territory was ceded to Sardinia, which had to pay 
for the conquest forty-two million dollars. Venetia, though remain- 
ing "under the crown of the emperor of Austria," was allowed the 
privilege of becoming a member of the proposed federal league. 
One of the worst features of the arrangement, and one that subjected 
the French emperor to considerable adverse criticism, was the pro- 
vision that the grand duke of Tuscany and the duke of Modena 



THE GRIEF OF CA VOUR. 63 1 

were to return to their states. The question concerning Parma was 
not decided. Peace having been made on these conditions, the 
French army withdrew from Italy, and Napoleon III really believed 
that he had performed a great act in the presence of Europe. To 
secure peace, he had been compelled, as he stated, to "cut off from 
his programme the territory stretching between the Mincio and the 
Adige." While he disappointed Italy by halting midway in the exe- 
cution of the plans projected in the alliance of Plombieres, yet he 
deprived France, temporarily, we admit, of benefits that could have 
been obtained on her side of the Alps. But the peace thus con- 
cluded was precarious, leaving many problems unsolved, and satis- 
fying neither Italy nor France. 

The emperor had conceived and executed his plan without consult- 
ing his ally, the king of Sardinia. The latter, a short time previous, 
had summoned Cavour to the Mincio for the special purpose of 
tranquillizing Napoleon III, who was disturbed by certain events 
taking place in the legations. Thinking that he had been successful, 
the great diplomatist returned from the army deeply impressed by 
the spectacle of Solferino's bloody field, but never suspecting an 
armistice. On the 6th of July he had written to Marquis Sauli, 
Sardinian embassador to St. Petersburg, who had mentioned the pos- 
sibility of a mediation: "A mediation at present could bring nothing 
but bad consequences. Austrian influence must entirely disappear 
from Italy before we can have a solid and durable peace." Cavour 
had been occasionally troubled by the difficulties and dangers of the 
situation, but he never anticipated a coup dc tJicdtre such as actually 
burst upon him. The idea of direct negotiations between the bellig- 
erents had not entered his mind, and yet at that very moment the 
emperor had decided to ask for an armistice. 

On the 8th of July Cavour received a dispatch at Turin from 
General La Marmora announcing a cessation of hostilities, and La 
Marmora confessed that no one knew *'how or by whom the armis- 
tice had been proposed." He started immediately for the camp, and 
when he reached the headquarters of Victor Emmanuel at Pozzolengo 
he found a peace, not yet fully established, but containing provisions 
which destroyed his hopes and defeated his policy. The details of 
it were communicated to him only on the nth of July by Victor 
Emmanuel, who came from the imperial camp at Valeggio, bearing 
the deed which he signed with this formula or singular reserve: '*As 
far as I am concerned." The scene was truly dramatic. He threw off 
his uniform, and, with a serious faCe, sat down in his usual soldierly 



632 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

attitude, and commanded one of the four persons present to read 
the preHminaries aloud. When Cavour heard the contents of the 
documents he exhibited a violent passion, and became so intemper- 
ate that Victor Emmanuel, unable to calm him, intrusted him to La 
Marmora. After all, Cavour was convinced that the king had done 
only what he was compelled to do. The question presented to him 
for decision was whether he should alone prosecute an unequal war 
or accept a peace which rescued Lombardy, though leaving some 
points unsettled. He did not hesitate nor could he have done so 
under the circumstances, and in submitting to what he could not 
avoid he exhibited some finesse, manifesting his grief but concealing 
his resentment. 

Cavour himself, though indignant, would not have advised the 
king to pursue a different course. As for him, he disclaimed the 
responsibility of the peace and refused to hold power, thereby sanc- 
tioning a cruel deception. ''I saw him on his return from Villa- 
franca," says his private secretary, ''pale, care-worn, broken down, 
and grown several years older in the space of three days." When 
things had become settled he resolved to retire from the cabinet, 
believing that to remain would be inconsistent with his honor and 
his policy. Overcome with chagrin and grief he handed his resigna- 
tion to the king and hastened to his villa at Leri. When he passed 
through Milan many persons, "and among them the governor, Vigli- 
ani, were at the station impatient to see him, but his exhausted 
nature was in the embrace of a deep sleep. He was weary, and his 
friends would not awaken him. It was the first time that he had 
truly slept during that sorrowful excursion to the camp. 

While on the Mincio Cavour had not seen the emperor, and the 
latter was not anxious to have an interview with him. A meeting at 
Valeggio would have been different from that of Plombieres. Some 
days later Napoleon HI, when returning to France, passed through 
Turin, and while there expressed a desire to meet Cavour. These 
two great men had a pleasant interview, and the Piedmontese states- 
man became more reconciled to the situation. In the evening he 
went to the palace, and on the way said to a friend who accompanied 
him through the most deserted streets of the city: "I have been 
invited to a court-dinner, but I refused. I am not in a state of mind 
to accept invitations. To think that I had done so much for the 
union of the Italians, and that to-day all may be compromised. I 
shall be reproached for not having consented to sign the peace. I was 
unable absolutely, and I can not sign it." 



CAVOUR RETURNS TO TURIN. 633 

Cavour was determined to seclude himself in the mountains of 
Switzerland, leaving La Marmora to form a ministry with Rattazzi 
and General Dabormida. On the 22d of July he addressed a letter 
to Madame de Circourt, stating that he would gladly accept her 
hospitality if she did not reside at Paris, and confessing that he pre- 
ferred some retired spot. The heart of the great statesman was 
almost crushed with disappointment, and the same deep and poignant 
feeling was shared by every patriotic Italian citizen. But when the 
first outburst was over they calmly surveyed the situation, and dis- 
covered that it was not hopeless. Napoleon III, before leaving the 
Mincio, had uttered these strange words in the presence of Victor 
Emmanuel: "Now we shall see what the Italians can do unaided." 
Toward the close of 1859 ^^^^ question of the annexation of Central 
Italy to Piedmont had assumed a prominence which surprised even 
Cavour. Deputations visited Victor Emmanuel with offers of the 
crown of Italy, but while promising to defend their rights he could 
not yet take the title of their sovereign. The people of Central Italy 
were firm, and the provinces by their assemblies decreed the deposi- 
tion of their princes and proclaimed in favor of annexation. 

Napoleon III, by a double conp de thedtre, astonished Europe and 
speedily changed the aspect of affairs. In a letter written on the 
31st of December, 1859, ^^ proposed to the pope to place the lega- 
tions under the viceregency of Victor Emmanuel, and by the publi- 
cation of a pamphlet, ''The Pope and the Congress," he contrivedl 
to render a congress for the adjustment of Italian affairs impossible.. 
Cavour was called back to Turin, and he reappeared on the scene as. 
the only man who could meet the crisis and lead Piedmont and Italy 
on the road together. He was consulted on all sides and became 
the center of the general activity, though not in power, cordial with 
every one, counseling prudence or boldness as the occasion required. 
His return to Turin and the emperor's change of policy indicated 
the beginning of a new era. 



634 ^I'^L V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



SEVENTH DECADE, 1860-1870. 



Chapter XV. 

THE ANNEXATIONS— THE REVOLUTION IN SICILY. 

/^N the 20th of January, i860, Cavour again took up the reins 
^-^ of power. His great mission was only interrupted, not aban- 
doned. One of his first acts on his return to the helm was to counsel 
Victor Emmanuel, notwithstanding the opposition of Russia and 
Prussia, and the reluctance of France to favor the annexation of 
Tuscany and Emilia. On the nth of March the voting in the cen- 
tral provinces occurred, and on the 18th a decree established the 
result by pronouncing the annexation to be confirmed. It Avas a 
bold and daring movement, but it inaugurated a new era in Italy. 
It struck a key-note to Cavour's subsequent policy — the annexation 
of provinces by means of popular suffrage. It was the first decided 
step in favor of Italian unity. To Victor Emmanuel was intrusted 
the sword of Castruccio Castracane, the Ghibelline leader, who had 
left it as a legacy to whoever should become the liberator of his 
country, and the king of Sardinia was virtually proclaimed from 
henceforth king of Italy "by the grace of God and the will of the 
people." 

Cavour knew that the annexation of Central Italy meant the 
cession of Savoy and Nice, though nothing had been said on the 
subject since the peace of Villafranca. His merit was to perceive a 
necessity and frankly accept it, and accordingly he wrote to Count 
Pepoli, saying: "The knot of this question appears to me to be no 
longer in the Romagna and Tuscany, but in Savoy. Although I 
have not received any communication on the subject from Paris, I 
have seen that we were on the wrong road and I have taken another 
direction." The idea of the sacrifice of Savoy had in reaHty been 
part of Cavour's programme on his resumption of power. It was 
soon to bear the title of "an incident of his policy." In the Winter 
of i860 Baron de Talleyrand, the French representative at the court 
of King Victor Emmanuel, received a dispatch from Paris charging 
him to announce to Cavour the wishes of France concerning Savoy, 
and the recall of the French army from Lombardy. This official 



CAVOUR FAVORS THE CESSION. 635 

communication stated that while France did not counsel the annex- 
ation of Central Italy, yet, regarding it as accomplished, would not 
offer any opposition, but simply asked the price which had been prom- 
ised, so that the imperial forces could be recalled from Lombardy. 

The plebiscitum in Tuscany and Emilia was a triumph over the last 
hesitations of Napoleon III ; but it placed upon Cavour the most 
solemn responsibility of his public life. On the announcement of the 
annexation of these provinces, on the i8th of March, the French 
emperor peremptorily demanded the cession of Nice and Savoy to 
his kingdom. Italy was not yet recognized in the great family of 
nations. Austria was strongly intrenched on the Mincio and the Po, 
Prussia and Russia were not friendly to the Italian kingdom, and 
nothing was to be hoped for from England more than English neu- 
trality. Besides, a Bourbon army threatened it in the rear. To have 
refused to France, its only remaining ally at that time, the territory 
of Nice and Savoy would have been madness and ruin. Still Cavour 
hesitated. " For charity's sake, sign the treaty," wrote Bixio, '*if 
you do not wish to lose all sympathy of France for Italy." For 
once Cavour was unmanned. In common with D'Azeglio, he said 
adieu to Savoy painfully ; but it was not a matter of sentiment with 
him. He resolved to perform a duty required by his policy, by 
cutting the "knot of the question," as he called it. Cavour walked 
up and down his cabinet thoughtfully and gravely, not on this occa- 
sion rubbing his hands as he listened to the reading of the treaty. 
He then affixed his signature to the deed in silence, and in so doing 
experienced the bitterness of death ; but in a moment after, recover- 
ing his habitual sprightliness, he went up to Baron de Talleyrand, 
and said to him, with a significant smile, "Now we have you for 
accomplices !" 

Thus on the 24th of March, i860, the ill-starred treaty was signed 
and sealed. Feeling that the cession was a supreme necessity, Cavour 
met it by rising to the heroic sublime of personal sacrifice and self- 
abnegation. Having consecrated himself upon his country's altar, 
he made no reservation of his fame or popularity. It was in such ii 
perilous crisis as this that he exclaimed, amidst the silence and soli- 
tude of his chamber, "Perish my name, perish my fame — only let Italy 
live!" One evening during the height of the political excitement, 
referring to the treaty in a conversation with his confidential secre- 
tary, he said: "If the king were to nominate me duke of Leri, as 
the Austrian journals predict, I would not exchange for that title my 
name of Count of Cavour. I have guattjijii sufficient for my wants, 



636 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

although I am not as rich as is generally believed, and will never be 
so popular as after the battle of Magenta and on the eve of that of 
Solferino. ... I have the ambition to serve Italy. For her I 
cheerfully risk my fame and my popularity. If I had aimed at noth- 
ing less than private advantage, instead of persuading Italy and 
Europe to consent to the cession of Nice and Savoy, I would resign, 
and, satisfied with a glor}' cheaply acquired, I would retire to Leri, 
and leave the country to be rent in twain in this dangerous polit- 
ical crisis." 

On the 25th of March the election lists were opened for the 
chambers in all the provinces of the new kingdom ; so that it was no 
longer before the Piedmontese parliament, but before the first national 
Italian parliament, that the question was to be laid which embodied 
for the moment the policy of Cavour. The head of the cabinet, in 
April, 1859, after a parliamentary session that had voted full powers 
on the eve of the war, said, ** I have left the last Piedmontese cham- 
ber — the next will be that of the kingdom of Italy." One year only 
had passed away, and Cavour's prediction had been fulfilled. He felt 
confident that an assembly which owed its life to him would not 
refuse to support his policy. This new body was composed of the 
dite of Italy, and in its spirit represented to a remarkable degree the 
national liberalism which for ten years had carried through Piedmon- 
tese measures. Hence Cavour had a strong governing force to sus- 
tain him when he asked for an indorsement of the treaty ceding 
Savoy and Nice. The discussion, however, which was unrestricted, 
developed every form of opposition, and presented many curious 
features, even the most eccentric. Guerrazzi, the former Tuscan 
chief, prodigal in sarcasms, threatened Cavour with the fate of Clar- 
endon, condemned to exile for having ceded Dunkirk to France; but 
the opposition containing the greatest elements of danger were cen- 
tered in a man in whom Cavour found an adversary both impas- 
sioned and self- contained, all but an enemy — Rattazzi. The latter 
had evidently been deeply mortified by his fall in the last ministerial 
crisis, and the elevation of Cavour awakened in him an implacable 
animosity. It is said that all personal intercourse had ceased be- 
tween these two men, notwithstanding their former intimacy ard 
parliamentary alliances. 

In his speech Rattazzi impeached the policy of Cavour, denounc- 
ing in bitter terms the treaty ceding Savoy, and particularly Nice, 
and calling the whole affair — the principle, the proceedings, the nego- 
tiations — ''unfortunate" and "miserable." He declared that the 



CA VO UR'S REPL V. 637 

Italian provinces could have been united without yielding to a power- 
ful ally, as the emperor, no doubt, would have finally consented to 
the annexations ; but now Savoy, an important conservative factor in 
a national crisis, had been given up, and Nice, an Italian city, was 
lost. The Italian programme had been abandoned, and a policy of 
territorial barter had taken the place of the policy of nationality. 
Rattazzi still further affirmed that the price of the annexation had 
been paid without even a guarantee in exchange. This shrewd tac- 
tician, under an appearance of moderation, refrained from personal 
attacks, and did not, like Guerrazzi, speak of Clarendon, "severe to 
the king, scornful of parliament, and believing in his pride that there 
would be no check to his authority;" he did not hurl such angry 
taunts at Cavour, though he sarcastically alluded to the latter's retire- 
ment in July as "an excellent method of escape from a dilemma, no 
doubt, but of small use in solving the difficulties." 

The president of the council, believing that these sharp, though 
polished, shafts were aimed at him, proceeded to justify his honor 
and the character of his policy before the Italian parliament, now for 
the first time assembled at Turin. The struggle was not equal, be- 
cause facts sustained Cavour ; and he promptly seized the advantage, 
to the confusion of his adversaries. He replied to Guerrazzi, and said 
that if Lord Clarendon could have defended his conduct by pointing 
to several millions of Englishmen delivered by him from a foreign 
yoke, and several counties added to the English dominions, the par- 
liament would, probably, have been more merciful, and perhaps 
Charles II would not have been so ungrateful towards the most 
faithful of his servants. "Since the honorable deputy, Guerrazzi," 
remarked Cavour, "has thought proper to give me an historical 
lesson, he should have given it complete. After telling us what 
Lord Clarendon did, he should have told us who were his enemies, 
what sort of men his accusers, who shared the spoil they had torn 
from him. He should have told us that these enemies formed the 
famous coterie of men possessed of no antecedents in common, no 
community of principles, no ideas, and who were actuated by noth- 
ing but the most impudent egotism ; men fallen away from ever}^ 
party, professing all opinions — Puritans, Presbyterians, Anglican 
Churchmen, and papists, each in turn ; to-day republicans, royalists 
to-morrow ; demagogues in the street, courtiers in the palace ; rad- 
icals in parliament, reactionists in the councils of the king — men, in 
short, whose coming together produced the ministry stigmatized in 
history as that of the Cada/. So much being said," Cavour added, 



638 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

**I leave it to the chamber and to the country to consider what may 
be thought of the present case." The assembly, electrified by this 
grand fulmination, broke forth in loud and long acclamations. 

The great diplomatist denied the accusation of the sarcastic Guer- 
razzi that he had sold cities, and he repelled the insinuation of 
Rattazzi that he had abandoned the national programme. He plainly 
and honestly stated to the chamber the real cause of the cession of 
Savoy, saying, "The true ground for it is, that the treaty is an inte- 
gral part of our policy, the logical and inevitable consequences of a 
past policy, and an absolute necessity for the carrying on of this 
policy in the future." In his speech Cavour declared that the French 
people believed that the provinces of Savoy and Nice naturally 
belonged to them, and hence their cession was indispensable to keep 
France in friendly relations with Italy. The latter, he affirmed, had 
been aided by the former, and it would be ungrateful and unjust to 
refuse reasonable demands. At the conclusion of the address, which 
captivated the assembly, Cavour gained the vote for the treaty by a 
majority of two hundred and twenty-nine ; only thirty-three protested 
against it, and twenty-three members obeyed the signal to abstain 
from voting given by Rattazzi. 

Before the meeting of parliament, and in the interval of these 
exciting discussions, Cavour had taken time to visit some of the pro- 
vinces. He had gone with Victor Emmanuel to Milan during the 
Winter fetes, where he met the venerable Manzoni, who reminded 
him of the conversation that had taken place one day in 1850 in the 
house of Rosmini, at Bolongaro. He had desired to see some of the 
cities of Lombardy — Cremona, Brescia, Bergamo, — and every-where 
he had received ovations of all kinds. Shortly after the annexation, 
still accompanied by the king, he had also gone to Tuscany and the 
Romagna, and for the first time beheld those provinces. As yet he 
had not known Florence or any of those delightful Tuscan country 
sides. While at Pisa, one morning he awoke at break of day in the 
silence of the still slumbering city, and taking Signor Artom with 
him, visited the Campo Santo. After remaining speechless a moment 
he exclaimed: "How pleasant it would be to repose here!" Signor 
Artom informed him that he would find himself on holy ground, for 
that this earth they trod upon had been brought from Palestine in 
the period of the Crusades, Cavour answered gayly: "Are you sure 
they will not one day canonize me?" 

Italy had scarcely become tranquil when a new campaign was 
preparing across the Mediterranean, and already Cavour's eyes were 



A NEW CAMPAIGN. 



639 



on Sicilian and Neapolitan waters. At length the drama suddenly 
opened, and while on the 5th of May, i860, the parliament in Turin 
was discussing the cession of Savoy and Nice, Garibaldi, followed by 




CATHEDRAL AND LEANING TOWER OF PISA. 



his companions-in-arms, the "thousand" sailed from the ** Villa 
Quarto," near Genoa, to cross the Mediterranean, with the intention 
of raising Sicily, Naples, and still more, perhaps, to the echoing cry 



640 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

of "Italy and Victor Emmanuel!" The history of Garibaldi's expe- 
dition reads like a legend. Leaving the gulf of Genoa at night in his 
pair of vessels, the Pienionte and Loinbardo, he swept through the 
Neapolitan cruisers, landing at Marsala on the 17th of May, and 
"conquering kingdoms at a gallop." Garibaldi had gone with an 
angry heart, easily won over to the Sicilian insurrection by resent- 
ment at the cession of Nice, and on starting he had let fly a barbed 
arrow at Cavour in a letter, in which he said to Victor Emmanuel : 
"I know that I embark on a perilous enterprise. If we fail, I trust 
that Italy and liberal Europe will not forget that it was undertaken 
from motives pure of all egotism and entirely patriotic. If we achieve 
it, I shall be proud to add to your majesty's crown a new and per- 
haps more brilliant jewel, always on the condition tJiat your majesty zvill 
stand opposed to conncilon ivho zuoidd cede this province to tJm foi'eigner, 
as has been done with the city of my birth.'' 

Cavour had not encouraged the expedition of Garibaldi because, 
without doubting his sincerity, he dreaded his rashness; but when 
the enterprise was inaugurated, he resolved to obtain from it richer 
fruits than those he had been gathering. During the previous year, 
on the death of King Ferdinand and the accession of young Francis 
II, son of a princess of Savoy, Cavour had seized the occasion to 
send Count Salmour on a mission of peace to Naples. . It was an 
offer of amity and support to an administration in its infancy. Early 
in i860 the cabinet of Turin had renewed the attempt by sending 
Count Villamarina, formerly embassador at Paris, to Naples, with 
instructions to bring about an understanding, if possible. Both with 
Rome and Naples Cavour would gladly have had dealings and 
arrangements ; but those governments of the south were too much 
influenced by their prejudices and passions to accept wise counsel. 
The fanatical "fire-eaters" at Rome declared that they Avould recon- 
quer the Romagna, and an army, composed of all classes of papists, 
was organized and placed under the command of General Lamorici^re. 
At Naples the unfortunate Francis II disregarded the advice of 
"revolutionary Piedmont" and the admonitions of France and Eng- 
land. These southern courts were under the control of Austria, and 
by their blindness in rejecting reasonable offers unconsciously aided 
the cause of Italian unity. 

Fearing that Northern Italy might at any moment be placed 
between the Austrians encamped on the Mincio, commanding the 
Po, and Lamoriciere leading an army from the south, Cavour allow^ed 
Garibaldi to go forth and "bear the spark to the fiery elements of 



DEFEA T OF FRANCIS II. 64 1 

the south." Naples had declined his offers of conciliation, and he 
had heard of the march of a Neapolitan corps in the Abruzzi. 
Hence, without having advised it, he did not prevent the expedition 
of Garibaldi, but even protected it. His agent, Persano, obtained 
supplies and covered the passage of new convoys of volunteers under 
Medici and Cozenz. Cavour, while encouraging the popular chief, 
beloved of Italy, was careful not to compromise his position before 
Europe by too open a support. "Hence came a policy," says De 
Mazade, "mixed up of audacity and stratagem, perfectly unfathom- 
able, the natural issue of a complicated situation." 

Garibaldi reached Palermo on the 27th of May, and, though 
opposed by a Bourbon army of twenty-five thousand men, he soon 
made himself master of Sicily. After establishing a provisional gov- 
ernment he passed the Straits of Messina on the 21st of August, and 
was at Naples on the 7th of September. Truly many exciting events 
had occurred in Sicily in the short space of six months. The des- 
potic acts of Francis II having enraged the people, they rose in revolt 
at Palermo, Messina, and Catania in the month of March, hoping to 
be successful like their brethren of the Peninsula. The Sardinian 
government, to which they looked for assistance, did not deem it 
prudent to interfere; but Garibaldi's sudden appearance at Marsala, 
proclaiming himself " Dictator of Sicily in the name of Victor Emma- 
nuel of Italy," and the defeat of the troops of King Francis at Mel- 
azzo, inspired the Sicilians with wonderful enthusiasm. Such a rapid 
conquest surprised every one except Garibaldi himself, and the aston- 
ished populations even declared that it was miraculous. While the 
latter welcomed the conquering hero as their deliverer, Francis II 
was alarmed, and appealed to Victor Emmanuel to put a stop to the 
invasion of his kingdom; but the Sardinian king, w^ho had secretly 
connived at the expedition, stated that he was not responsible for 
the attack upon the king of Naples. A little later, fearing the tenden- 
cies of Garibaldi's republican sympathies, Victor Emmanuel ordered 
him to take no steps against Naples until the people of Sicily should 
decide by their votes whether they would become a part of the Sar- 
dinian kingdom. Garibaldi refused to obey this order, and, on the 
night of the 20th of August, crossed his force from Sicily to the 
main-land at Spartivento. Pushing on he defeated the Neapolitan 
troops at Reggio and San Giovanni, and moved forward towards 
the capital. 

The success of this little army was remarkable, and the history 
of its progress seems fabulous. Setting out with a mere handful of 



642 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

men, denounced as a filibuster, his expedition branded as piracy, and 
his troops as bandits, in the course of only four mouths Garibaldi 
had routed and dispersed a large and well appointed army of regular 
troops, overthrown a proud and haughty, if not powerful, dynasty, 
and been proclaimed by acclamation dictator of the kingdom of the 
**Two Sicilies." His enthusiastic volunteers, barefooted and in rags, 
in want of provisions, iii want of transportation, without tents, with- 
out even cartridge-boxes, other than their caps, seem unmindful 
of hunger or thirst or repose. Urged forward by an irresistible im- 
pulse as they shout, "On to Naples!" the intrepid band gathers 
strength as it advances, until one man becomes a score, a battalion, a 
brigade. The disorganized Neapolitan troops exchange the blue 
waistcoat for the red shirt, shake "hands with the volunteers as they 
pass, and shout with the rest, "Long live Garibaldi!" As their 
idolized commander pushes forward far in advance of his troops, 
who no longer advance in regular columns, but precipitate them- 
selves in disorganized masses, multitudes remain standing entire days 
and nights with a hope of seeing him pass. Those who were so fortu- 
nate as to have caught a glimpse of the popular idol were regarded 
as persons of mark. Any one to whom he had spoken became an 
object of curiosity, and whatever he touched was at once transformed 
into a relic. 

Francis II fled from Naples to Gaeta in a Spanish man-of-war, 
and, on the 7th of September, i860, Garibaldi, accompanied by only 
seven officials, entered the city in a hired hack, passing directly under 
the guns of the fortifications, though manned by soldiers of Francis 
II, who so far forgot their duty to their royal master as to present 
arms. The capital suddenly became delirious with excitement. All 
Naples was at the windows or in the streets. As the living tides 
surged along the crowded thoroughfares or debouched into the pub- 
lic squares, all distinctions were alike forgotten. The citizens were 
beside themselves for joy. They laughed and wept, they shouted 
and embraced, amidst enthusiastic cries of "Long live Italian unity!" 
Had the blood of St. Januarius suddenly liquefied in special recogni- 
tion of the auspicious event, the excitement could not have been 
greater than it was. As for Garibaldi, he inaugurated a provisional 
government; with his usual impetuosity, he launched one proclama- 
tion after another, expelling the Jesuits, confiscating the goods of the 
clergy, establishing juries, and abolishing lotteries. The conquering 
hero did not hesitate to undertake any thing, however impracticable or 
visionary, and even proposed, after the reduction of Capua and Gaeta, 



CA VOUR'S OPPORTUNITY. 643 

to march upon Rome, then Hberate Umbria and the Marches, and 
with the battle-cry of " ItaHan Unity and Victor Emmanuel!" to 
advance from victory to victory, until he should unfurl the tricolor 
from the standards of St. Mark, and proclaim Victor Emmanuel king 
of Italy from the summit of the Quirinal. But his rapid and suc- 
cessful advance was suddenly arrested before the stronghold of Capua 
and Gaeta, where Francis II, with the remnant of his army, defended 
himself with great spirit and obstinacy. The volunteers, who had 
achieved such brilliant victories on the march, were hardly prepared 
to conduct the operations of a siege. Then, too, there were evident 
signs of reaction. The popular enthusiasm began to ebb. The roy- 
alists, recovering from their panic, commenced to rally, while the 
besieged Bourbon army, emboldened by partial successes, attempted 
to break through the enemy's lines with a view of marching upon 
Naples. Affairs had evidently reached a crisis. 

Garibaldi's extremity was Cavour's opportunity. While the illus- 
trious captain had been winning success upon the field of battle the 
prime minister had been rendering equally effective service upon the 
field of diplomacy. He had succeeded in preventing foreign inter- 
vention until he could present to Europe a fait accompli. He resolved 
to secure and consolidate the results of the revolution in the interests 
of Italian unity by substituting a regular for a provisional form of 
government. He accordingly advised Victor Emmanuel to push for- 
ward the Italian troops across the papal frontier with a view of co- 
operating with the army before Capua. It was a bold, hazardous 
movement. France showed her disapproval by recalling her minister 
from Turin ; Russia did likewise ; while Prussia remonstrated in the 
most energetic terms. Cavour, as usual, succeeded in pacifying 
diplomacy with a memorandum, while the battle of Castelfidardo, the 
liberation of Umbria and the Marches, and the capitulation of An- 
cona hastened the decisive event. On the 26th of October, i860, 
the troops of Victor Emmanuel formed a junction with those of 
Garibaldi before Capua, a victory followed, and the Bourbon rule in 
Naples ended. 



644 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 



Chapter XVI. 

CAVOUR AND THE UNITY OF ITALY, 

AT the commencement of the year 1861 Italy was in a transition 
state. Tuscany, Modena, Parma, Umbria, and the Marches, 
which liad, after the war of 1859, sought to annex themselves to Sar- 
dinia, resolved, by solemn vote, in popular suffrage to consummate 
the annexation, and, in accordance with the royal order issued on 
the 3d of January, they elected deputies to the Sardinian parliament, 
which was to assemble on the 18th of February at Turin. On the 
1st of January the king of Sardinia sent forth an. address to the 
people of Italy, recommending prudence, patience, and, above all, 
harmony. The election of deputies ordered resulted in a triumph 
of the liberal party, in opposition to the clerg}^, who, except in the 
old kingdom of Sardinia, had reviled and resisted the annexation 
and the measures which would be likely to follow it. 

The speech of the king at the opening of parliament on the i8th 
of February was well adapted to promote harmony and judicious 
action. *'To your wisdom," he said to the deputies, "I commit the 
concerns of a free and almost wholly united Italy." After enumer- 
ating the claims of England and France to their grateful remem- 
brance, he added : * ' In the consciousness of its power, the kingdom 
of Italy can follow the counsels of prudence. I have hitherto raised 
my voice for acts of daring and even rashness ; but it is as wise to 
wait at the proper moment as to dare at the present moment. De- 
voted to liberty, I have risked for her my life and my crown, but no 
one has a right to put at hazard the existence and the destinies of a 
nation." Count Cavour sustained the pacific policy of the king in 
the parliament, and asked that the title of ''King of Italy" should 
be conferred on Victor Emmanuel, that thus the unity of Italy might 
be consecrated in the royal person. The law enacting this as the royal 
title passed the senate on the 26th of February, by a vote of one hun- 
dred and twenty-six yeas and two nays, and the chamber of deputies 
unanimously, on the nth of March. On the same day the king as- 
sumed the title, which was recognized by England on the 30th of 



THE ROMAN QUESTION. 645 

March, and subsequently by Switzerland, Greece, Denmark, Portu- 
gal, and the United States. The recognition of France was given on 
the loth of June. Austria protested against it, but without effect. « 

The Roman question was of course the most absorbing one with 
the Italian parliament, and it was involved in great difficulties. Since 
1848 the Roman government had chiefly been maintained by the over- 
awing force of Austrians in the legations and the French army in the 
capital. The defeats of the Austrians by the French and Sardinians 
at Magenta and Melagnano, in the Summer of 1859, ^^ere immediately 
followed by the evacuation of the States of the Church by the Aus- 
trian garrisons. Upon this, several of these 'states at once revolted 
from the pope, and proclaimed Victor Emmanuel king, or dictator. 
As was stated in a previous chapter, the efforts of the papal army to 
reduce these states to their former condition of obedience were unsuc- 
cessful. But Pius IX, though deprived of nearly all his territory, was 
as defiant as ever, and vehemently exclaimed as usual, '' Non possii- 
miLs!'' Hence the Italian parliament of 1861 was confronted with the 
complex Roman question, wdiich affected every thing, from the very 
constitution of Italian unity by the choice of a capital, to the beliefs, 
interests, and traditions of the Roman Catholic world through the 
temporal power ; and by the prolonged presence of a French garri- 
son at Rome, it affected the most intimate relations with France. 
It was at once a national and universal, a religious and diplomatic, 
question ; and it is here that Count Cavour displayed, indeed, the 
powers of a mind marvelously clear and penetrating, showing himself 
a master in the art of contriving and combining, absolutely free from 
vulgar prejudice, and pursuing, by the aid of Hberalism, the solution 
of an apparently insoluble problem. 

During the preceding twenty years this question had thrust itself 
before him, and when he was only the representative of * * little Pied- 
mont " he could not fully meet it face to face ; but now, as minister of 
united Italy, he did not shrink from it. He believed that the settlement 
of it would result in the complete transformation of the political con- 
ditions of the papacy. He had one advantage, which belonged to his 
open and liberal mind, and it had often come to his assistance in all 
these delicate religious affairs, and that was the absence of any ani- 
mosity or prejudice as regards the Roman Catholic Church. At the 
same time he looked upon the temporal power as incompatible with 
Italian nationality, and even as detrimental to religion. He spoke of 
it publicly and temperately, like one having a great problem to solve 
and no sectarian passions to appease. Looking abroad from the 



646 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

height of a lofty policy, he accepted whatever was in harmony with 
the object he had in view, and was even anxious to offer the Roman 
Catholic Church the fullest compensation in liberty and independence 
for its lost temporal power. One day, about this period, he wrote 
to a confidential friend: "There are to my mind two methods: the 
one above board, the other secret. The first would be resolutely to 
submit the matter to the public judgment: for instance, if I or an- 
other member of the cabinet, or the king himself, were officially to 
declare, either in public speech or before parliament, the views of the 
government in relation to religious affairs. The second would be to 
dispatch a secret agent to Rome, whose presence would be unknown 
to our adversaries, and Antonelli among them : this agent to have the 
fullest confidence of the government, in a manner to impress the 
belief that he is the bearer, and may be the receiver, of serious 
proposals." Cavour had employed both these methods alternately, 
sometimes simultaneously, as a man wdio joined to a purely logical 
mind the rarest flexibility in practical issues. 

In the sharpest of these struggles and crises Cavour had com- 
municated secretly with Rome. Early in i860 the king's private 
chaplain, Abbate Stellardi, was sent to the pope with the mission to 
propose a Vicariate, stretching to Umbria and the Marches, as well as 
over the legations. Pius IX listened suavely, even with some mani- 
festation of emotion, and w^ent so far as to discuss certain points, but 
finally ended by refusing his consent. When the Marches were be- 
ing annexed, or shortly afterward, Cavour, instead of widening the 
breach, did his utmost to moderate the wrath of Rome. He gave 
orders for the unconditional release of the prisoners, and wrote, to- 
wards the end of October, to Dr. Pantaleoni, a friend of his, estab- 
lished in Rome: "I send a person to Rome deputed to yield up the 
captured gens d'aiines. The same person is commissioned to inquire 
whether the Holy Father begins to perceive the necessity of coming 
to an understanding with us, which the Roman court will do well to 
do, and by which its spiritual independence will be far better assured 
than by foreign arms." The same idea had struck Dr. Pantaleoni, 
and of this came a secret negotiation, continuing up to the close of 
i860 and the first weeks of 1 86 1, Father Passaglia speedily becom- 
ing associated with it. 

There were other concurrent negotiations; but that conducted by 
Dr. Pantaleoni was the main one. Cavour did not conceal any thing 
from the French emperor, w^ho had his own projects ; but ended by 
entering into the mysterious business on hand, whose aim was to 

I 



FATHER PASSAGLIA. 647 

sweep away quietly the temporal power. The pope was to remain 
sovereign, with all a sovereign's prerogatives, rights, inviolability, and 
honors, retaining a large patrimony in real estate in the kingdom, 
and absolute ownership of the Vatican, and other palaces and resi- 
dences. The Church was to be completely free and independent in 
its spiritual ministry. The state renounced all rights of intervention 
in the affairs of the Church. It was the notable treaty of peace long 
dreamed of by Cavour, and summed up in his famous phrase: "A 
free Church in a free state." If the court of Rome was not serious 
in this negotiation, it certainly at one time regarded it with some 
favor. Father Passaglia was the most active intermediary between 
Rome and Turin, and Cardinal Santucci accepted the office of nego- 
tiator. One and the other had interviews with the pope, who listened 
to them, insomuch that Cavour one day received the following dispatch 
at Turin: ''Cardinal Santucci has thought fit to tell the pope every 
thing; he has spoken to him of the certain loss of the temporal power, 
and the friendly propositions that have been made. The Holy Father 
has shown himself resigned. Antonelli has been summoned ; he 
began with a lively opposition, then became equally resigned, and 
requested the pope to absolve him and Santucci from the oath, that 
they might treat of the possible surrender of the temporal posses- 
sions. They are to see Passaglia, and the latter asks me, on their 
behalf, for some one to be indicated here, or sent from Turin, to 
negotiate. It is desired that the person selected be not a lawyer." 
The news was immediately telegraphed to the emperor of France, 
who, though anxious for success, seemed to have little hope of it. 
Cavour, perceiving this open door, believed that it was only a step to 
the altar of compromise within, and he accordingly redoubled his 
efforts. After designating the negotiators that had been asked of 
him he wrote to Father Passaglia, saying, ' ' I entertain the belief 
that before next Easter you will be able to send me the olive-branch, 
symbol of peace between the Church and the state — between the 
papacy and the Italians." But a sudden change occurred, and at 
the moment when the first step to a negotiation seemed to be made 
the question assumed an entirely different aspect. It was evident 
that Cardinel Antonelli had either pretended to yield for the pur- 
pose of controlling the designs of his enemies, and of finding the 
means to combat them, or else that his hope of evading the necessity 
had revived, and he thought he saw symptoms of coming events 
in Europe, signs of a possible intervention of the Catholic powers. 
The pope, who appeared to be half inclined to reconciliation, was 



648 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

held back by his wily adviser, and the latter went so far as to give 
orders to Dr. Pantaleoni to leave the Roman states within twenty-four 
hours ! The enemies of peace, by their intrigues, had achieved a 
victory for the time, and every thing was in suspense. Cavour had 
not succeeded by the "secret means;" he had the "public means" 
to try — the parliament; and he found occasion in March, 1861, in an 
interpellation addressed to him on the affairs of Rome. This oppor- 
tune interpellation was for him but another manner of taking up and 
continuing the negotiation in the light of day, in the face of Italian 
and universal opinion, and frankly avowing to its full extent and in 
its grandeur the policy whose realization he had never ceased to 
prosecute. 

Cavour had said in parliament, "The star now directing us is 
this, that the 'Eternal City,' upon which twenty-five centuries have 
cast glory of all kinds, should become the capital of the kingdom of 
Ital}^" What he had already said he confirmed with more precision 
and breadth in March, 1 861. He was not led astray by imagination 
and artistic enthusiasm, but confessed that the plain, straight streets 
of his native town were more attractive to him than all the monu- 
ments of Rome. He loved Turin, and it was with regret that he 
thought of sacrificing it, even exclaiming, "Ah, if only Italy could 
have two capital cities : one for Sundays, the other for the days of 
the week!" He made this resolution entirely on political grounds, 
because the name and majesty of Rome alone could dominate the 
rivalries of Italian cities, and so put the definite stamp on unity ; and 
he believed that it was a prime necessity to inform Europe that 
Rome was regarded by the whole nation as vitally the capital of the 
country. "No city but Rome," he declared, "can be the capital 
of Italy; but here we come upon the perplexities of the problem. 
We must go to Rome, but on two conditions : that we are acting in 
concert with France, and that the great body of Catholics in Italy 
and elsewhere do not see in the reunion of Rome with Italy the 
source of the subjection of the Church. In other words, we go to 
Rome, but not to restrict the independence of the sovereign pontiff — 
not to bring spiritual things under the yoke of civil authority." 

The plan which Cavour proposed was unquestionably a difficult 
one to execute, but not an impossibility as regarded France. Cavour 
said, plainly: "It would be madness, in the present state of Europe, 
to think of going to Rome in spite of France. . . . We owe 
France a great debt of gratitude ; but there is a graver motive for 
being in harmony with her. When, in 1859, "^^^ called France to 



INDEPENDENCE OF THE POPE. 649 

our aid, the emperor did not conceal from us the engagements by 
which he was bound to the court of Rome. We accepted his assist- 
ance without protesting against the particular obligations he had im- 
posed on himself; and now, that we have won so much from this 
alliance, we can not protest against the engagements to which up to 
a certain point we have consented." Cavour believed that there was 
but one way of disengaging France, and quieting with her the whole 
CathoHc world, and that was by giving the Roman Catholic Church 
what a pretended temporal power — painfully sustained for twenty 
years by foreign arms, incapable of supporting itself or regenerating 
itself by reforms^could not give it. This was by establishing the 
dignity with the independence of the sovereign pontiff and of the 
Church, by the separation of the two powers, a large application of 
the principle of liberty in relation to civil and to religious society. 
"It is clear," Cavour continued to say, "that if this separation were 
distinctly and irrevocably accomplished, if the independence of the 
Church were thus established, the independence of the pope would 
be much more securely based than it is to-day. His authority 
would be more efficacious, being no longer bound by concordats and 
all those bonds and treaties which have been and must remain indis- 
pensable so long as the pope is a temporal sovereign. The authority 
of the pope, far from diminishing, will be greatly extended in the 
spiritual sphere, which is his own. . . . Whether or not an un- 
derstanding with the pope precedes our entrance into the * Eternal 
City,' Italy will no sooner have declared the fall of the temporal 
power than she will separate Church and state, and establish the 
liberty of the Church on the broadest foundations." 

Cavour sincerely believed what he said, and he was confident that 
what he asked was in the interests of the Roman Catholic Church, as 
well as in the interests of Italy. One day when his intimate friend, 
Signor Artoni, was expressing his doubts and fears, he exclaimed, 
with his usual vivacity: "I have more faith than you in the effects 
of liberty. Do you not see that the time has come to settle the 
question of the temporal power, which has ever been the stumbling- 
block in the way of Italian nationality, and that the only way to 
settle it is to reassure the Catholic world as to what Italy will do 
with the papacy? Injustice is done to Catholicism when it is urged 
that it is incompatible with liberty. On the contrary, my conviction 
is that as soon as the Church shall have tasted liberty she will feel 
herself renewed in youth by that wholesome and fortifying reginien. 
When Europe shall have been convinced that we are not striving 



650 ITAL V ST7^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

against Catholicism she will find it natural and fitting that the Italian 
rather than any other flag should float over Rome. The enterprise 
is not easy, but it is worth being attempted." 

Cavour viewed Catholicism in a purely spiritual light when he 
denied that it was "incompatible with liberty." He was a liberal 
Roman Catholic, and desired to promote the welfare of the Church 
in its religious operations; but the secular, political policy of the 
papacy was condemned by him, not only because it was hostile to 
Italian unity, but also because it was the enemy of liberty every- 
where. He sought to overthrow the temporal and preserve the 
spiritual power of the Church. More than any other man, he was 
made to attempt it. He had not yet succeeded, it is true ; but after 
disentangling a revived Italy from her disorders and divisions he had 
marked on the horizon a final aim, while shaping the road to reach 
it. "He himself," says De Mazade, "had touched the supreme 
point in human destiny, when a man made powerful by freedom, be- 
girt by a solid popularity, though still with struggles before him, can 
only be stopped by death surprising him in harness, and in the hour 
of victory." 



Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 



Chapter XVII. 

CAVOUR' S POLICY VICTORIOUS— THE STATESMAN'S DEATH. 

WHILE the Roman question continued to be a disturbing ele- 
ment in Italian affairs, yet it was only a part of the difficulties 
which the new situation developed. The more serious and immediate 
complication was in those southern provinces suddenly annexed to 
the north. The Bourbon standard, fixed on the rock of Gaeta until 
the 13th of February, 1861, represented but a vanquished cause, and 
therefore this military protest, being without response or hope, did 
not cause the Italian government any uneasiness. The moral condi- 
tion of that southern region, which was passing through a kind of 
stormy transition, was a source of discord and danger. The annexa- 
tion of Lombardy, Tuscany, the Romagna, or Parma, was a safe 
measure ; but the extremity of Italy, at that time, constituted an 
entire kingdom, separated from the north by manners, customs, and 



CA VO UR'S HERCULEAN LABORS. 65 I 

traditions, and contained a rebellious, ungovernable population. The 
passionate, exuberant Neapolitans had been so long oppressed and 
kept in ignorance and degradation by the grinding tyranny and 
demoralizing influence of the Bourbon kings, that they seemed hardly 
fitted to appreciate the liberties they had gained. Every element of 
anarchy remained, and excited in part by the emissaries of Francis 
II, whose residence at Rome gave him ample opportunities for such 
intrigues, disorders, and tumults, soon burst out. In this revolution- 
ary interregnum each party, abusing the privileges of an unbounded 
liberty, naturally took advantage of the fanaticism, the passions, 
and rebellious instincts of an impressible population, easily arrayed 
against laws, taxes, and the whole new order of things. The de- 
fenders of the fallen liginie organized a veritable system of brigandage, 
and covered it with a political cloak. Ii\ vain the cabinet of Turin 
endeavored to bring order out of this chaos by sending a succession 
of lieutenants — first Farini, then the prince of Carignano, with Cava- 
liere Nigra ; next Signor Ponza di San Martino ; but these Pied- 
montese representatives, who succeeded one another at Naples, con- 
fessed their inability to manage these provinces, which, though not 
really hostile to the government, were undisciplined and turbulent. 
Indeed, the late Neapolitan kingdom threatened to become another 
Ireland, so that Cavour was brought face to face with every external 
and internal complication of an unfinished work. 

The great statesman was not yet satisfied with his conquest, and 
therefore could not rest. He had simultaneously to adjust the rela- 
tions of a new Italy with Europe, to fix his policy in Venice and 
Rome, to continue to pacify the southern provinces, assimilate the 
legislation and administration of all these different provinces, reor- 
ganize the army of the new kingdom, and unite six or seven budgets 
into one, which, from the very first, presented a deficit of five hun- 
dred millions of francs ! With all his natural vitality and vigor to 
sustain him, he sometimes yielded to despondency, and asked him- 
self whether he could perform the herculean work on which he was 
bestowing his energies and his life ; but banishing these apprehen- 
sions, he soon took courage again. He was assailed by many and 
serious difficulties — divisions, personal resentments, things, and men ; 
often men in the highest position opposed him, and he was bitterly 
denounced because he would not consent either to a dictatorship to 
simplify the work of unification, or a state of siege to quiet Naples. 
Against all these hostile influences, which arose from the many ques- 
tions of organization that he directed and settled, he braced himself, 



65 2 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

and, though the trials yet in store for him might be severe, yet he 
hoped to succeed through discussion. His strength was in the parHa- 
ment and in the confidence of the people, in his immense influence 
on the popular mind, and in the support of the liberals. His weak- 
ness consisted in a situation still unsettled and undecided. Some 
sudden outburst of fanaticism, or the daring of some popular leader 
might wreck his policy by rushing headlong into a rash adventure in 
the direction of Rome or Venice. 

In the Spring of 1861, one of those stormy Springs of that period, 
whidi, to use Lord Palmerston's expression, ''came in like lions," a 
pretext was given for the revival of the unhappy struggle which had 
occurred between Cavour.and Garibaldi in October, i860. The ques- 
tion that precipitated the conflict was the dissolution or the reorgan- 
ization of the army of the south ; that is to say, of those volunteers 
who had gone through the campaigns of Sicily and Naples with Gari- 
baldi. General Fanti, the minister of war, did not consider such an 
irregular military force a safe thing in a time of high national enthu- 
siasm, and therefore would not have it in the interests of the 
army ; while Cavour Avould not consent to retain it, because he 
deemed it inimical to the interests of diplomacy. Great consideration 
was shown to the officers, and men like Nino Bixio, Cozenz, and 
Medici, who proved w^orthy of their rank, w^ere made generals, and 
many others were offered prominent positions in the national army. 
Although the principle of volunteer service Avas maintained, yet the 
southern army w^as virtually disbanded. The action of the minister 
of war, who, in the execution of these delicate matters, did not dis- 
play the highest wisdom, awakened the indignation of Garibaldi. 

Cavour, however, was held responsible, and, though desiring to 
avoid a conflict, he saw that it was inevitable, having been but inef- 
ficiently settled in the previous October, and therefore liable at any 
moment to kindle again with all its fury, and with all its dangers like- 
wise. The prospect of its renewal troubled Cavour, but he accepted 
it with as little animosity as weakness. After the failure of his plans 
with regard to Rome and Venice, Garibaldi retired to his island of 
Caprera, disappointed but not dismayed. He had arranged to meet 
his companions the following Spring, and. In the mean time, from 
the depth of his retreat, which he had not even left to attend 
the meeting of parliament at Turin, he continued to arouse his 
countrymen by sending forth stirring appeals. He defended the 
southern army and the volunteers, and advocated a general arming 
of the people. To a deputation of Milanese workmen, w'Jio pre- 



THE GO VERNMENT ASSAILED. 65 3 

sented an address to him at Caprera, he said, among other things : 
"For the holy redemption of this land I rely on the rough hands of 
men of my stamp rather than on the lying promises of false politi- 
cians. Notwithstanding the sad effects of a vassal policy nnivorthy 
of the country, and notwithstanding all that the croivd of lackeys npJiold- 
ing this monstrous and anti-national policy may say, Italy must stand; 
she must live." While this popular soldier and idol of the people 
permitted his impetuous patriotism sometimes to lead him to utter 
intemperate, and perhaps imprudent, expressions, yet there were 
extenuating circumstances. Garibaldi was the exponent of the popu- 
lar feeling which, at that time, almost unanimously demanded the 
speedy completion of Italian unity by the annexation of Rome and 
Venice. It was also natural that he should feel indignant when the 
army which he had created, and with which he had become the con- 
queror of the Two Sicilies, was disbanded at the very moment when 
it was needed to achieve other victories. Believing tliat the policy 
of Cavour was too conservative, he did not hesitate to condemn it, 
and yet at heart he felt confident that its author was a sincere patriot, 
though timid. 

Shortly after the interview with the deputation from Milan, Gari- 
baldi, in accepting the presidency of the ''Association of Italian 
Unity," delivered another speech, and exhorted his countrymen to for- 
tify themselves against ''that cowardly fear which those seek to inspire 
who have dragged Italian honor in the dust." These fiery declama- 
tions produced intense excitement throughout the country, and in the 
southern part particularly stirred up the passions of the people. 
With one blow he struck the king, the army, and the parliament of 
which he was himself a member, reproving them for what he regarded 
as their subserviency to France. Accustomed to use the most forci- 
ble, and at times even violent, language, perhaps he did not calculate 
the effect of his words; but, as might be expepted, they created a 
profound sensation at Turin and in the chambers. The government 
was offended, and the deputies declared that the parliament, for the 
honor of liberal institutions, should protect its good name, and main- 
tain its dignity though it should strike the popular hero. Some of 
his enemies denounced his course as an outrage, and insisted that he 
should not have impunity in abuse. Thus this singular conflict began 
to assume serious proportions ; but the question was. Who shall take 
the initiative ? The government, in its official character, hesitated ; 
the president of the council disliked to acknowledge that these offen- 
sive words, intended mainly for him, demanded from him a reply; 



654 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

and if an obscure or unpopular deputy had attempted to assail Gari- 
baldi the movement against him would have been led astray or 
failed in its object. At length the government party found a cham- 
pion in the person of Baron Bettino Ricasoli, who had labored ear- 
nestly and decisively in the cause of national unity, and possessed an 
independence both of station and character which qualified, to some 
extent, to measure swords with Garibaldi, with whom he had intimate 
relations during the interregnum in Central Italy. 

The former dictator of Florence had recently arrived at Turin, 
and on his first appearance in the chamber his proud and grave 
aspect, the natural dignity and severity of his manner and person, 
made a deep impression, inspiring mingled feelings of curiosity and 
respect. Like many others, the Florentine baron had been wounded 
by Garibaldi's violent utterances. He proposed to ask the govern- 
ment for explanations on the measures it had taken, or was about to 
take, with regard to the southern army and the development of the 
military forces of the nation. But before proceeding to the consider- 
ation of these measures he resolved to attack Garibaldi's course, and 
accordingly, on the loth of April, i86i, in the midst of an excited 
assembly, he rose to his feet, all being instantly hushed about him. 
In spontaneously undertaking to defend the government Ricasoli felt 
the gravity of the position he had assumed while the chamber waited 
with anxiety for his debut, not knowing any thing about him as a 
public speaker, but simply as the dictator at Florence. With a clear 
vibrating voice and an imperious tone which gathered fire as it went, 
he uttered the following words: **A calumny has been circulated 
abroad concerning one of the members of the assembly. Expressions 
hostile to the majority in parliament have been attributed to General 
Garibaldi. They can not have been uttered by him. I know him, 
and I shook his hand when he was about to take command of the 
central army. We were then animated by the same sentiments — we 
were both equally devoted to the king. We both swore that we 
would do our duty. I have done mine. . . . Who is it, then, 
that could proudly claim for himself the exclusive privilege of devo- 
tion and patriotism, and exalt himself above his fellows? One head 
only has the right to be higher than any other among us — that of 
the king. Before him we must all bend, and any other attitude 
would be that of a rebel. . . . Victor Emmanuel has made our 
nation. . . . Italy's liberator being the king, and all Italians 
having marched to liberty under the command of a chief so magnan- 
imous, one citizen is not above another. He who has had the good 



THE ELOQUENT FLORENTINE. 655 

fortune to do his duty more generously in a wider field of action or 
in a manner more profitable to his country, and who has perfectly 
fulfilled it. a greater duty still lies before him. and it is to thank God 
for allowing him the inestimable privilege which is granted to so few, 
of being able to say: *I have served my country well, I have abso- 
lutely done my duty.'" The whole assembly was moved by these 
words, emphasized by the impressive bearing and vibrating delivery 
of the speaker, and at times his thrilling sentences called forth enthu- 
siastic acclamations. 

Cavour had never before heard his austere Florentine ally and 
rival speak, and had not always found it easy to deal with him in the 
affairs of Central Italy, and he listened rather curiously at first ; but 
he soon began to share the universal excitement, and in leaving the 
house he said to a friend: "To-day I have understood and felt the 
nature of true eloquence." Others have declared that he said: 
"Were I to die to-morrow my successor is found." The government 
was highly pleased with this vindication of royalty, parliament, and 
the dignity of the nation, and Ricasoli himself felt that he had simply 
discharged a conscientious and patriotic duty; but he certainly did 
not express the sentiment of the Italian people in intimating that 
Garibaldi was a rebel. Ricasoli denounced the intemperate language 
of the brave general, and yet did not restrain himself The hero of 
the Two Sicilies could not decline the challenge, but hastened to 
Turin, and immediately published a letter disavowing all intentions of 
censures either towards the king or the national representatives. A 
collision in parliament was now unavoidable, and the presence of 
Garibaldi made the scene still more dramatic. For more than a week 
Turin had been filling up with volunteers, who hurried thither to 
escort and support their leader. Some feared a conflict between the 
citizens of that sturdy Piedmontese city, faithful to its king and the 
followers of the conqueror of Naples; but this was not probable when 
all were striving to secure the unity of their beloved Italy. 

On the day appointed — the i8th of April, 1861, — the sitting was 
opened with an unusual solemnity. The diplomatic corps had wished 
to be present, and even the tribunes bent under the weight of an 
excited crowd. A few moments elapsed, and then Garibaldi appeared 
in his singular costume — the legendary red shirt and South American 
poncho. As he entered the galleries burst forth in shouts of wel- 
come, but the chambers remained immovable and cold. When the 
excitement had subsided Baron Ricasoli, taking up the thread of his 
former subject, questioned the government as to the southern army, 



6^6 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

and the military reorganization of the nation. The minister of war, 
General Fanti, in his reply, gave a detailed statement of the measures 
he had adopted and had found necessary. He stated that he had 
done all he could do for the officers and volunteers of Garibaldi's 
arm}', which he claimed was an institution born of the circumstances 
of the time, and that he could not have pursued a different course 
without introducing into the regular army a disastrous spirit of rivalry 
or- wounding military feelings and interests. 

At this point Garibaldi arose and proceeded to address the 
assembly. In the beginning he seemed to be embarrassed on this 
new stage, entangling himself in laborious phrases; but he soon dis- 
pensed with circumlocution and went straight to the question at issue. 
In reply to the charge of antagonism to the government, made by 
Ricasoli, he said: "I have not given any occasion iox dualism. It is 
true that plans of reconciliation have been proposed to me; but these 
have only been in words. Italy knows me to be a man of deeds, 
and deeds have always been in opposition to words. ... When- 
ever dualism could have damaged the cause of my country I have 
bowed and shall always bow. . . . But I leave it to the con- 
sciences of the Italian representatives here present to state whether 
I can give my hand to one who has made me a stranger in Italy." 
The scene now became animated, and the assembly was disturbed 
by loud interruptions, when Garibaldi, returning to the subject of 
the southern army, which he stated was "the principal object of his 
presence in the chamber," added with growing excitement: "Having 
to speak of this army, I should, above all, relate its glorious deeds. 
The wonders it achieved have been darl^ened only when the cold 
and inimical hand of the ministry has made its evil influence felt. 
When, through love of peace and horror of a fratricidal war, pro- 
voked by that same ministry — " At these words, before the sentence 
was complete, the tempest burst out and protestations were shouted 
on every side; the real struggle had come at last. 

Cavour, who was seated among the ministers, could scarcely 
restrain himself, and, full of indignation, at length exclaimed: "Such 
insults as these are not permitted ; we can not suffer them ; see that 
proper respect is paid to the government and representatives of the 
nation. We demand a call to order." Rattazzi, the president, sadly 
perplexed and almost extinguished in this storm, requested Garibaldi 
to express his opinions in a form less offensive. Cavour cried out: 
" He has said that we provoked a fratricidal war; this is far more than 
an expression of an opinion." "Yes, a fratricidal war!" Garibaldi 



CA VOURS REJOINDER. 657 

vehemently replied. The assembly was now convulsed with an ex- 
traordinary agitation. The deputies loudly shouted for a call to order, 
while the friends of Garibaldi, who crowded the galleries, made the 
Chambers resound with frantic applause. Violent invectives and abu- 
sive challenges crossed each other in rapid succession, and the confu- 
sion became so great that the president was compelled to adjourn the 
sitting until order could be restored. After some minutes the debate 
was resumed, and Nino Blxio, one of the band of heroes of Sicily 
and the Volturno, delivered an address in which he endeavored to 
palliate the violent language of his ancient chief by Invoking a patri- 
otic return to reconciliation. "Count Cavour," he hastened to say, 
"has undoubtedly a generous heart. The earlier part of this day's 
session should be forgotten. It is a misfortune that it has happened. 
Let us banish it from our minds." 

Cavour, though he had been wounded by Garibaldi's words, and 
experienced emxOtions he Avas unable to repress, controlled himself 
sufhciently to reply to Bixio's request that the insult should be over- 
looked, and to enter into an explanation. "It Is not," he replied, 
immediately, "that I flatter myself with the hope of seeing the 
friendly feeling spring up again which the honorable member, Blxio, 
has just entreated us to entertain. I know there is one deed which 
has put a gulf between General Garibaldi and me. I thought to ac- 
complish a painful duty — the most painful I have ever known — In 
urging upon the king and parliament the approval of the cession of 
Nice and Savoy to France. Through the pain it caused me I can 
realize that which General Garibaldi must now feel on the subject, 
and if he Is unable to forgive me for that deed I can not hold it to 
be a reproach to him." Garibaldi in his turn became more calm, 
expressing a desire that, according to him, would have a tendency to 
moderate their dissensions. He said: "Although my sentiments 
towards Count Cavour are those of an adversary, I have never 
doubted that he also is the friend of Italy. My wish would be that 
the honorable count should make use of his powerful Influence to 
cause the law which I propose for the national armament to be 
adopted ; namely, to dispatch the forces remaining of the southern 
army to a point wherein they might serve Italy by combating a reac- 
tion daily growing more threatening. This Is my desire." 

Cavour was ready to do all he could to relax a situation of ex- 
treme tension and to promote reconciliation. After the first moment 
of indignant feeling had passed away he quickly recovered his cool- 
ness, and calmly surveyed the field. He feared that these rashly 



658 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

kindled conflicts might descend from parliament to the country, and 
produce civil war, to the destruction of tlie dawning unity. Hence 
no effort was too strong for him, and no sacrifice too great. He 
was even willing to forget personal injuries, and to make concessions 
in particulars. There was but one thing — the essential one, it is 
true — that he positively refused, because in it he saw another danger, 
the external danger. He would at no price, while appearing to sub- 
mit to Garibaldi's desire, favor a sort of active organization of volun- 
teer corps, in the positive acceptation of the word, believing that 
such a measure would have the appearance of preparation for an 
offensive war, and might ruin all his labor of diplomacy, of which he 
alone had the secret. "We decline to do," he said, resolutely, 
"what would be a real provocation, because we do not think our- 
selves bound to follow a provocative policy." Believing this to be 
the question at issue, Cavour fought with consummate skill for three 
days, not to win over the Chamber, because that body was already 
in sympathy with his schemes, but to obtain a clear and decisive 
consideration, so that the vote might be intelligently given. 

Cavour, rising high above the sense of a personal conflict, addressed 
the Chamber, declaring that the ministry had so often proclaimed to 
Italy, and also to the whole of Europe, the policy of the government, 
that they must be familiar with it. He reaffirmed the opinion that 
the Italian question would not be settled until the independence of the 
Peninsula was thoroughly established, and the relations of Rome and 
Venice satisfactorily arranged; but he opposed any adjustment of the 
Roman question which involved hostility or discord with France. 
He stated that while the present condition of Venetia was incompat- 
ible with a durable peace, yet European interests, and the counsels 
of friendly governments and powers which had aided Italy in critical 
times, should be considered. A general war could easily be precip- 
itated ; but Cavour expressed his belief that such a policy at that 
time would be dangerous. At the close of this address the vote for 
an order of the day, proposed by Baron Ricasoli, was accepted by 
the government. Thus ended a conflict which began in a wild tumult 
and uproar, and might have culminated in a serious crisis had not 
wiser counsels prevailed. After the drama had quietly closed it was 
followed by an epilogue due to the diplomacy of Victor Emmanuel, 
who used all his influence to secure a personal reconciliation between 
Cavour and Garibaldi. He succeeded in arranging a meeting be- 
tween them in one of the private apartments of the palace. A few 
days later Cavour wrote as follows to Count Vimercati, at Paris : 



CA VOURS ARDUOUS LABORS. 659 

*'My Interview with Garibaldi was courteous, though not warm; we 
both kept Avithin the Hmits of reserve. I acquainted him, however, 
with the hne of conduct which the government intends to follow, as 
regards Austria as well as France, assuring him that on these points 
no compromise is possible. He declared his readiness to accept the 
programme, and to be willing to engage himself not to act contrary 
to the views of government. He only asked me to do something 
for the army of the South. I gave him no promise; but I told him 
I would seek a means to provide, as well as might be done, for the 
future of his officers. We parted, if not good friends, at least with- 
out any irritation." 

This note, written on the 27th of April, 1861, describes the last 
interview between these great men. Garibaldi disappeared to return 
to his Mediterranean island, and Cavour resumed the herculean 
labors which were rapidly undermining his physical constitution. 
During his contest with Garibaldi he seemed to be full of vigor, and 
exhibited a sort of new brilliancy that indicated a generous maturity. 
As his work became greater and more complicated his resources of 
strength and activity appeared the more inexhaustible. But the 
strongest and most robust constitution could not endure the strain to 
which Cavour was subjected. In winning his last and decisive vic- 
tory over Garibaldi he had received a heavy blow, the storm of ex- 
citement having told seriously upon his nervous system. Excess of 
work of every kind could hardly be other than murderous to his 
health. At one and the same time he was engaged in establishing 
the relations of Italy Avith Sweden, Denmark, and Portugal ; he was 
in the heat of negotiations with the emperor of the French on the 
subject of Rome ; he was minutely observing the troubled affairs of 
Naples ; he was regulating the finances and attending to the navy 
of the new kingdom ; and every day he was in parliament, taking 
his part In every discussion. It was not necessary for him to strug- 
gle for a majority; but, having it, the responsibility of directing it 
and preventing the adoption of imprudent measures rested upon him. 
On the 29th of May he was in parliament, earnestly discussing a 
project that was to be turned into a sort of manifestation in favor of 
the republicans fighting at Rome in 1849, ^^^ ^^ ^^"^^t day he was 
more excited and impatient than usual. That evening, on returning 
home, he seemed weary and gloomy. **I am exhausted," said he; 
"but I must go on Avorking, for the country needs me. Perhaps 
this Summer I may be able to take some rest in Switzerland." That 
same night he was seized with violent indisposition, and grave symp- 

43 



66o ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

toms began to be manifested. For a moment it seemed to be con- 
quered by early care and bleeding — the habitual remedy at Turin — 
and even Cavour thought himself all right. On the 31st of May he 
was again able to assemble about him his colleagues of the ministry. 
He worked with Nigra and Artom, but at length was compelled to 
yield. After the 1st of June the remedies ceased to be effectual, and 
all hope vanished. The 2d of June had been appointed by the govern- 
ment as the national fete-day, in commemoration of the achievement 
of Italian unity; but, amidst the public rejoicings from one end of 
the Peninsula to the other, Cavour was attacked by his final illness. 

As the news of his dangerous sickness spread through the capital 
the residence of the prime minister was besieged by a silent, anxious, 
and sympathizing crowd that thronged the court, the vestibule, and 
even the grand staircase, until long after the hour of midnight, while 
the telegraph was busy in transmitting the medical bulletins of the 
illustrious sufferer to the various sovereigns and cabinets of Europe. 
In this last struggle between life and death Cavour passed from fits 
of delirium to lucid moments, during which all that had been occu- 
pying him came to his mind. As in health and activity, so in the 
closing hours of life, the welfare of his beloved Italy was ever upper- 
most in his thoughts. In his paroxysms of delirium he discussed ques- 
tions of state poHcy and from time to time called for his private sec- 
retary, with a view of dictating dispatches. To his physician he 
said: "Cure me promptly; I have Italy on my shoulders, and time 
is precious." With his niece, the Marchioness Alfieri, always atten- 
tive at his pillow, and with his friends, Farini and Castelli, he spoke 
of all he had yet to do, of the loan of five hundred millions which 
was impending, of the recognition of the kingdom of Italy byFrance, 
a letter expected from Count Vimercati in Paris, and of the navy it 
was necessary to create. He was anxious about Naples, and spoke 
of it urgently. 

"Northern Italy is established," he said. "There are no longer 
Lombards nor Piedmontese, Tuscans nor Romans. We are all Ital- 
ians ; but there are still Neapolitans. Oh! there is much corruption 
in their country. Poor people ! it is not their fault, they have been 
so ill-governed! . . . We must impress the country morally: 
but it is not by abusing the Neapolitans that they will be brought to 
reason. . . . Above all, there must be no state of siege, none of 
the measures of absolutist governments. Any one can govern with 
a state of siege. I will govern them with liberty, and I will show 
what ten years of liberty can do for these fine countries. Twenty 



FRA GIACOMO SUMMONED. 66 1 

years hence they will be the richest provinces in Italy. No, have no 
state of siege; that is my advice to you." Victor Emmanuel 
wished to visit his illustrious minister, and standing by his bedside 
affectionately pressed his hand. Cavour, recognizing him, exclaimed : 
"Oh, your majesty, I have many things to communicate to you, 
many papers to lay before you, but am too ill, it will be impossible 
for me to come and see you ; but I will send you Farini to-morrow, 
he will give you all particulars. Has your majesty received no letter 
from Paris? The emperor is friendly to us now." Sometimes Ca- 
vour complained of confusion in his brain, imagining that there was 
the seat of his malady ; he felt that the power of thinking was rap- 
idly leaving him. 

After taking leave of his friends and domestics, he requested that 
the priest of the Madonna dei Angeli, the Fra Giacomo, with whom 
he had seven years previously made every arrangement, should be 
sent for; and accordingly, at the summons of the Marchioness Alfieri, 
the priest hastened to the death-bed of the great man, and spent half 
an hour alone with him. After the padre's departure, Cavour called 
for Farini, and said to him : ' ' My niece has summoned Fra Giacomo ; 
I must prepare for the great passage into eternity ; I have confessed 
and been absolved. I desire that it be known, that the good people 
of Turin should know that I died the death of a good Christian. 
I am without anxiety; I know that I have injured no man." That 
same day the ''good people of Turin," who were anxiously watching 
the course of the illness, tearfully followed the priest, who carried 
the viaticum to the dying statesman. The priest himself, it is said, 
comforted a relative of the count, by reminding her that "no man in 
this world had known better how to succor and pardon than that 
one." After administering extreme unction Fra Giacomo recited at 
the bedside of the Illustrious citizen the prayer for the dying, when 
Cavour, pressing his hand, significantly whispered: '' Frate, fratc\ 
libera chiesa in libera stato.'' It was almost in pronouncing these words 
that, at a quarter before seven o'clock on the morning of the 6th of 
June, 1861, Count Camlllo Cavour "rendered to his God one of the 
noblest souls that ever animated a mortal being." He passed away in 
the fifty-first year of his age, a victim of overwork and untiring devo- 
tion to his country. He seemed to have been struck down In the 
heat of action, as on a battle-field on the morning after a victory, 
which had been secured by the moderation and the greatness of his 
intelligence. Massari states that "he who did not see Turin that 
day knows not what is meant by the grief of a people." The town 



662 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

was filled with mourning. The tribunes of the chambers and the 
standard on the palace were veiled with crape. 

The sorrow occasioned by his death was universal throughout 
Europe, and in his own beloved Ital}^ the grief of the people was 
intense beyond expression. His funeral occurred with more than 
regal pomp. In spite of the rain, which fell in torrents, as if the 
very elements were in sympath}- with the mournful event, an im- 
mense concourse of people, with every manifestation of sincere and 
profound sorrow, thronged the sidewalks or followed in the proces- 
sion. In all the large cities business was entirely suspended. Even 
his political enemies recognized his death as a national loss, while the 
friends of Garibaldi, burying their resentments in his newly opened 
sepulcher at Santena, followed silently and respectfully in the wake 
of his funeral car. He died earl}% but he lived long enough to wit- 
ness the assured triumph of the policy to which he had dedicated his 
life and consecrated his genius. What he failed to accomplish him- 
self, with singular prevision he clearly foreshadowed in his speeches. 
Among the latest of these delivered in parliament was the celebrated 
one upon the Roman question, which at that time was invested with 
peculiar interest. Referring to Rome as the capital of Italy, he said : 
"Our destiny, gentlemen — I declare it openly — is to make the * Eternal 
City,' upon which twenty-five centuries have accumulated every spe- 
cies of renown, the splendid capital of the Idngdom of Italy. But per- 
haps this will not satisfy the honorable interpellant who has asked 
by what means we are to attain this desirable end. I would reply: 
If you will first inform me as to what will be the condition of Italy 
and Europe within the next six months I will respond ; but if you 
can not furnish me with the data, I fear that neither I nor any one 
of the mathematicians of diplomacy will be successful in finding the 
unknown quantity you seek." 

He, however, indicated some of the more rational means to be 
employed in the solution of this difficult question — as the establish- 
ment of a compact and powerful government at home, the modifica- 
tion of public opinion abroad, and the growing conviction in modern 
society that liberty is eminently favorable to the development of true 
religious sentiment. He predicted that the time would soon come 
when "the large majority of sincere and intelligent Catholics will 
recognize the fact, that the august pontiff, who represents the head 
of the Catholic religion, would be able to exercise in a manner much 
more free and independent his spiritual functions guarded by the 
love and respect of twenty-two millions of Italians than defended by 



CA VOURS CHARACTER AND POLICY. 663 

twenty-five thousand bayonets" of mercenaries and foreigners. He 
subsequently added: ''The moral world is subjected to laws analo- 
gous to those of the physical world. The attraction is in proportion 
to the mass ; and, by as much as Italy becomes more strong and 
compact, by so much will the attraction which she exercises upon 
Venice (and Rome) become the more powerful and irresistible." 

The friends and enemies of the departed statesman alike regarded 
his death as a national calamity, and even the great men of other 
countries pronounced glowing eulogies upon his character. In the 
English House of Commons. Palmerston, following Brougham m the 
Lords, and Milnes, said : * ' The name of Count Cavour will live forever, 
embalmed as it were with gratitude and admiration in the memory of 
the human race. And when I speak of Count Cavour I do not 
simply mean to praise him for those administrative acts which have 
most astonished the world; that is to say, for the unity of his country. 
He has done many other things that make him no less great. The 
foundation of the constitutional government in which Italy now 
rejoices was laid by him ; it is he who managed all the affairs of the 
Peninsula, and secured inestimable benefits to those who are living 
and to all who will live after us." The sudden death of Cavour 
awakened a deep and sincere feeling of sorrow in France, and, with- 
out doubt, hastened the recognition of the new kingdom of Italy by 
the French government. ''Italy a nation," says De Mazade, "is the 
legacy of Cavour. The fruit of a policy starting from an idea of 
independence and patriotism, and embracing internal order, econom- 
ical interests, religious affairs, and diplomacy, developing and enlarg- 
ing itself daily, by the help of the most astonishing mixture of dex- 
terity and daring, justice and high-mindedness, practical good sense 
and unbaffled energy in contrivance." 

In reviewing the character of the illustrious Italian statesman, and 
in studying his policy, we are reminded of the remark of one of his 
distinguished contemporaries, who said that Cavour possessed the two 
most essential qualities of a great diplomatist — "prudence and impru- 
dence." He was generally cautious, but when a bold movement was 
necessary to turn the trembling scale in his favor he did not hesitate 
to inaugurate it. In mediaeval Italy, under the shadow of the Roman 
hierarchy, he advocated the largest liberty and became the champion 
of free trade, free press, free speech, free schools, and a free Church 
in a free state. "All the world," he exclaimed, "knows how to 
govern by martial law; I would govern by means of liberty." He 
persistently refused to restrict the freedom of the press, though no 



664 ^^^ LY STR UG GLING INTO LIGHT. 

one suffered more from its unbridled license than he. And yet, 
notwithstanding his liberal tendencies, he was always in favor of a 
monarchical rather than a republican form of government for Italy as 
better adapted to the temper of her people, and more in accordance 
with the genius of her institutions. He often repeated that "the 
form of republic best adapted to the customs and needs of modern 
Europe has still to be discovered. It presupposes in any case the 
accomplishment already of that great task of popular education which 
will be the work of our century." 

Cavour was rich and of a noble lineage, but he attached very 
little importance to birth and position, rarely wore decorations, and 
did not highly esteem those who delighted in the '*pomp of ribbons." 
In speaking of the gravitating tendencies of modern society, he pre- 
dicted that within fifty years there would not be a knightly order in 
Europe. Still he believed that an aristocracy might be useful to 
Italy, and ''7ioblesse oblige'' was one of his favorite mottoes. He 
was generous and conciliatory in his bearing toward all parties, and 
promptly recognized the good qualities of his opponents. His adver- 
saries of to-day became his allies to-morrow. He was ever ready to 
extend a friendly hand to any one, irrespective of party antecedents, 
who was willing to co-operate with him in achieving Italian unity and 
independence. Like Macchiavelli, he acted upon the principle that 
the rules of morality which ought to govern the intercourse of indi- 
viduals are not binding upon societies or applicable to international 
relations. Hence the dangerous maxim that ''the end justifies the 
means" is painfully conspicuous in his creed as a diplomatist. 

"In his personal appearance," says Dr. O. M. Spencer, "Cavour 
was of medium stature, with a tendency to corpulency, quick and 
energetic in his movements, with a forehead broad, high, and spa- 
cious; his eyes partially closed by weakness, and further concealed 
by spectacles; his mouth not well formed and somewhat voluptuous, 
over which played an ironical smile, the joint offspring of mirth and 
disdain. Nevertheless, the tviit ensevible of his countenance was 
expressive of benignity. " 



GRAND MISSION FIELD. 665 



Seventh Decade Continued, 1860-1870. 



Chapter XVIII. 

WALDENSIAN MISSIONS IN ITAL Y. 

WHILE the period from i860 to 1870 will ever be recognized as 
an important one in the history of Italy's progress toward 
national unity and independence, it will also be regarded as a decade 
of religious awakening. The battle of Solferino made an opening in 
the ramparts of despotism and superstition, and through it the Bible 
entered Italy. Before the sound of the cannon had died away "the 
sword of the Spirit" was unsheathed in the midst of the nation and 
was smiting "the man of sin." The colporteur, with the sacred 
volume in his hand, seemed like a prophet come down from heaven, 
or rather come up from the sepulcher, to reveal truths long concealed 
from the eyes of the sons of Italy. The Waldenses, who had worn 
the crown of martyrdom for many ages, were now honored by the 
God of their fathers, with a grand mission — the spreading of the 
Gospel throughout the entire land. 

Startling events followed one another in rapid succession during 
the year 1859, ^^"'^ ^^^h enlarged the mission field of the Waldenses. 
Scarcely was the blood of the three great battles — Montebello, 
Magenta, and Solferino — dry before Austrian Lombardy, Tuscany, 
Modena, Parma, and a large part of the pontifical dominions had 
annexed themselves to Piedmont. In i860, during the brilliant cam- 
paign of Garibaldi in Sicily and Naples, the sword of the hero routed 
armies, put kings to flight, and added Southern Italy to the magnifi- 
cent dominion of Victor Emmanuel. The Peninsula was subject to 
one constitution, which granted toleration to the Waldensian Church, 
thus giving to her, as a field of labor, the whole of Italy from the 
Alps to Etna. The cannon which vastly extended the area of con- 
stitutional liberty also made a wider field of action for the Gospel; 
and the Waldensian Church, looking down from her native mountains 
and beholding the country thrown open to Protestant effort, ventured 
down from her abode of ages, though she had reasons to doubt that 
uncertain political sky in which the clouds had so often returned 
after the rain. 



666 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

At its meeting in May, i860, the Vaudois synod resolved to 
establish its college in Florence. In the following Autumn two pro- 
fessors, M. M. Revel and Geymonet, with their families and eight 
students, departed from La Tour in the "Valleys" and settled in the 
capital of Tuscany. From the glens of the Cottian Alps to the city 
of Cosmo was "not a step, but a stride." Truly it was a significant 
event when the Church of eighteen centuries and of thirty persecu- 
tions planted herself on the banks of the Arno. Through the liberal- 
ity of a few Christian friends the Pallazzo Salviati, a magnificent 
structure, and the former residence of an archbishop of Florence, 
became the headquarters of the Waldensian school. Indeed, under 
its spacious roof the Waldenses found room for all the agencies of 
their mission. They converted one part of the venerable building 
into a college with its class-rooms; they formed another part into an 
elegant sanctuary, capable of containing from three to four hundred 
hearers. They selected another portion as dwelling-places for the 
professors; a fourth they destined for schools, and a fifth for the 
Claudian printing-press, which was now brought from Turin and set 
to work in the old literary capital of Italy. The purchase money of 
the building was four thousand pounds, and the alterations and 
repairs cost two thousand more. This measure, which gave a mate- 
rial foothold to the work of evangelization in Florence, was mainly 
carried through by Dr. Stuart, of the Scotch Church. , 

When the Waldenses descended from their mountains they sought 
not to occupy prominent places, but to perform a great and difficult 
work, which they were willing to accept with all its responsibilities. 
They felt that their mission was to evangelize the whole field from 
Mount Blanc to Mount Etna. In the early part of i860 they organ- 
ized a mission station in Leghorn. This city, until eclipsed by the 
growing prosperity of Genoa, was the chief seaport of Italy. It is 
truly a race of mosaics and creeds, and under the wise and liberal 
policy of Cosmo I and Ferdinand I, grand dukes of the Medici 
family, was noted for religious toleration and unfettered commerce. 
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was a general city of 
refuge to the persecuted and oppressed of all climes. Here fled the 
Jews in great numbers, chased from every part of the Spanish empire 
by the pitiless bigotry of its counsels. In i860 they formed about a 
fourth of the population, and comprised more than a fourth part of 
its intelligence and activity. To this city also came many families 
from France, driven out by religious persecutions or civil wars. 
Many inhabitants of Corsica, impatient of the Genoese yoke, took 



THE JESUITS ALARMED. 66^ 

refuge in Leghorn. At the time when the Waldenses visited it to 
preach the pure Gospel it contained an English church, a Scotch 
Presbyterian chapel, a Greek temple, a Turkish mosque, and a Jew- 
ish synagogue, and the addition of another to its already numerous 
*' rites" should have been an easy matter. Yet it was in the free 
city of Leghorn that the most violent opposition was offered to the 
establishment of a Waldensian mission station. A young evangelist 
was sent there, and he began to hold small meetings in a private 
apartment. When this fact became known the owner of the house 
was deprived of his situation and his wife, a dressmaker, of her 
customers. After great difficulty a hall, which could contain a hun- 
dred and fifty persons, was rented. The opposition became more 
violent, and the audience more numerous. Night after night hun- 
dreds went away because they could not obtain admission. The 
proprietor of the hall was coaxed, threatened, and tempted in every 
way to cancel his agreement, but he refused. The Society of St. 
Vincent de Paul, the new form which the Jesuits had assumed, had 
previously established a branch in Leghorn ; hence the excitement of 
the public mind, the disturbances of the peace, and the deeds of 
violence which followed. 

The Waldensian evangelist was resolved to have a place for wor- 
ship which he could control, and accordingly leased a piece of ground, 
upon which he built a wooden shed that could be used as a church 
until a stone fabric should be erected. The Protestant cause had 
now obtained a foothold in Leghorn, and its enemies raged still more 
fiercely. The Jesuits went from house to house arousing the faithful 
children of the ''Mother Church," and urging them to expel the 
plague of heresy from their city. Bitter complaints and foul calum- 
nies were fulminated from the papal press, and even the slumbering 
pulpits awoke and began to thunder against Protestantism. Friars, 
celebrated for their learning and eloquence, were brought from a 
distance and hired, like Balaam, to curse this new people from the 
heretical regions of England and the Cottian Alps. But, in the midst 
of this storm of excitement and clamor, many were silently investi- 
gating the doctrines of this sect, every-where spoken against. The 
Protestant tracts and pamphlets, which had been scattered among 
the people, had produced a good effect, as the increasing attendance 
at the wooden shed testified. 

Ribet, the young evangelist, was a man of remarkable zeal, un- 
daunted courage, and keen intelligence. He was not in the least 
intimidated by this opposition, but went to the cathedral and list- 



66S ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

ened to the philippics which the priests uttered against Protestant- 
ism. On the next evening he rephed, in the presence of a large 
audience assembled in his own church. This method of conducting 
the war was not agreeable to the priests, and they determined to 
employ other weapons. Ribet was warned by several persons, Avho 
had learned of the plot, that sixty men had united in a conspiracy 
to take his life by stabbing him in the dark, and throwing his body 
into the nearest ditch. While it may have been a nise designed to 
alarm the evangelist and induce him to leave the city, the report was 
believed, and henceforward a select number of his hearers escorted 
him home every evening, and were not satisfied until they saw him 
safe in his own dwelling. But now the matter was carried from the 
street corners to the higher tribunal of the government offices. Be- 
neath these noisy discussions there was an important principle. The 
question at issue was whether the law or the priest should rule the 
country. The law said, ** Protestantism must be tolerated." The 
priest said, "It must be suppressed." A regular application had 
been sent to Turin for the government sanction to the opening of 
the new Waldensian church, and it was now to be decided which 
was the supreme power in Italy, the constitution or the papacy. 
Cavour was then at the head of the nation, and, though not a Prot- 
estant, he felt that Protestantism must be tolerated as a logical 
necessity of liberty. He therefore sent down an order to the offi- 
cials at Leghorn for the opening of the Waldensian temple; but un- 
fortunately the administrators of the law Avere against the law, and 
the order from Turin remained a dead letter. Cavour was requested 
to send another, which was placed in the hands of the same author- 
ities; but it was treated with the same contempt as the former. It 
seemed as if the constitution could not make effectual its article 
which guaranteed toleration. A third time Cavour was asked to 
protect the Protestants in the enjoyment of their rights, and after 
some delay and many difficulties, a third order was dispatched, this 
time not to the Leghorn officials, but to Dr. Revel of the Wal- 
densian college at Florence, and the result was that the new church 
at Leghorn was opened in June, i86i. 

The details of this conflict are given, not only because they show 
the true state of the public mind at that period, but also because 
issues were involved which concerned the entire Italian nation. Tol- 
eration had been inserted in the national code, but not as yet in the 
opinion and practice of the people. The firmness of Cavour made 
this a test-case in the working of the constitution, proclaiming, as 



CA VOUR'S A CTION—DR. REVELS LETTER. 669 

it did, that that instrument was able to confer the rehgious hberty 
which it promised. It is a significant fact that the signing of the 
third order which estabHshed religious freedom in Leghorn, and 
prospectively throughout Italy, was among the last acts of that great 
man and minister. He had devoted his life to the grand work of 
securing the unity and independence of his country, and now, at the 
close of his earthly career, he is permitted to practically enforce the 
policy expressed in those favorite words, uttered by him so often 
during his public life, and breathed to his spiritual guide in the 
dying hour: ''Libera cJiiesa in libera stato.'' By the official recogni- 
tion of the little Waldensian chapel in Leghorn he opened the door 
of the "free state" for the admission of the "free Church." 

In a letter, written by Dr. Revel of Florence to a clergyman in 
America, on the 4th of November i860, encouraging statements 
relative to the progress of the Gospel are found. "As we have 
already," he says, "in Central and Northern Italy more than forty 
colporteurs, and as the kingdom of the Two Sicilies is now open 
to free intercourse, and by consequence to the free circulation and 
preaching of the Word of God, I have thought that I would look 
after one or two colporteurs, and send them to Sicily, where some 
friends, who are under the banner of Garibaldi, write us that much 
could be done as well in the military hospitals as in the midst of the 
population. But, as I have said, it would be necessary for me to 
find some one already accustomed to the business. I have at length 
found two colporteurs, who have labored in Lombardy and the 
duchies, and whose engagements with a German committee of Elber- 
feld terminate with the month of October. These colporteurs are the 
two brethren, Joseph and John Cereghini, two cousins belonging to 
those remarkable families of the Cereghini of Favale, a small com- 
mune in the mountains at the foot of the Apennines, about fifteen 
or twenty miles from Genoa. They were led to the knowledge of 
the pure Gospel ten years since, and have given the best proofs of 
fidelity in the service of Jesus Christ in the^ midst of many trials. I 
have great confidence that they will discharge their duty well, and 
that God will bless their labors. They set out for Palermo, where a 
friend recommends them to persons of his acquaintance. They are 
furnished with necessary books, and there is already a Bible depos- 
itory in Sicily. They have desired to go both together, and we find 
that this is better, especially in a distant country, and one that is not 
very well known. If you would be willing to bear the expenses of 
one, I hope to find readily the means of paying the other." 



6;0 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

On the 6th of November, i860, Dr. Revel, in a letter to 
Rev. A. E. Campbell, D. D., Secretary of the * 'American and For- 
eign Christian Union " at New York, gives some interesting facts con- 
cerning the evangelization of the Peninsula. "You know," he says, 
' * that we have added to our old stations for Italian evangelization — 
to-vvit: those of Pignerol, Turin, Casale, Alexandria, Genoa, Favale, 
Courmayeur and Aosta — the stations of Milan, Pisa, Leghorn, and 
Florence. We are now hoping to send a minister to Bologna and 
one to Naples, where they have written us that a Waldensian min- 
ister is a great desideratum. The reports which we receive from 
our evangelists are exceedingly interesting, and full of encouraging 
facts. To mention only one station, that of Courmayeur and Aosta, 
the evangelist tells us that he has in the former place an audience 
which reaches fifty, and in the latter a congregation which sometimes 
amounts to one hundred and fifty. He reminds us that Calvin made 
his appearance at Aosta in 1536, and wrought such a religious move- 
ment that the Reformation came within a hair's breadth of being es- 
tablished in the whole province. An order of death arriving from 
Turin compelled Calvin to flee, and ruined for a long time the evan- 
gelical cause. Calvin had only five minutes to save himself. There 
are inscriptions and a monument in the city of Aosta, which are 
destined to perpetuate the memory of his flight. It is this which 
explains the custom of the clergy of striking the noon bell at eleven 
o'clock, this being the hour at which Calvin fled. They inflicted the 
severest cruelties on the adherents of the Reformation. Some they 
burnt alive on the public square ; as for instance, Nicholas Sartorius. 
The greater part, terrified, returned to Romanism. Only three fam- 
ilies remained steadfast, and they continued to exist to within forty 
years ago. Two of them bore the name of Bruno, and the name of 
the other was Savoie. They are now extinct except one of the Bru- 
nos, whose son attends our meetings. Our evangelist says that 
he has often heard the piety and steadfastness of the aged Savoie 
spoken of in the highest terms of praise. He was blind ; but he did 
not fear, forty years ago, to assemble his friends at his house to 
explain to them the Word of God, and to pray and encourage the 
faith of his brethren. Five priests labored to convert him in his 
last moments. But this was in vain. He continued steadfast to 
the end, confounding the priests, and received here below from men, 
as a reward for his steadfastness, a burial in the place appropriated 
to suicides and the vilest felons." 

The wonderful opening in Italy in i860 for the spread of the 



DR. M'CLINTOCK'S LETTER. 671 

pure Gospel attracted the attention of philanthropists and Christian 
workers every-where. Among these was the Rev. John M'ClIntock, 
D. D., a learned and eloquent minister of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and at that time the pastor of the American chapel at Paris 
belonging to the "American and Foreign Christian Union." In a 
letter written at Paris on the 6th of November, i860, he says: "The 
direct effect of the vast political changes that have taken place in 
Italy Is to open that country to Protestant agencies. If there was a 
field calling for immediate and energetic labor on the part of the 
Protestant Church that field is Italy; and the time is to-day. Every 
month that passes now without Improvement Is equal to a year of 
ordinary time. I trust that the American and Foreign Christian 
Union will throw Itself boldly Into this work, trusting that American 
Christians will sustain them in grand enterprises for the planting of 
earnest, practical Protestantism In the chief cities of Central and 
Southern Italy. But besides the direct effect of palitical changes 
there Is a great controversy waging In the bosom of the Church 
itself on the question of the temporal power of the pope. The 
bishops and great functionaries of the Church affirm that the tem- 
poral sovereignty Is necessary to the Independence of the pope ; the 
Italian people, on the other hand, demand the city of Rome and the 
' patrimony of St. Peter ' as part of the territory of the new ' king- 
dom of Italy. ' Liberal Roman Catholics all over Europe sympathize 
with the Italian people; and there are many, both of the clergy and 
laity, who believe that the Roman Church Itself will be greatly 
strengthened by the abolition of papal sovereignty. This doctrine is 
energetically maintained in the Observateiir Catholiqiie, a journal in 
the interest of Gallicanism, edited by the Abbe Guettee, and pub- 
lished twice a month. It deals vigorous blows, not only against the 
temporal power of the pope, but also against the new doctrine of 
the Immaculate Conception, and against the Ultramontane theories 
generally. This journal must find a good many persons in the 
Roman Church to sympathize with its views, as It has managed to 
live for five years, and appears now to be more vital and active than 
ever before." 

Dr. M'ClIntock, in another letter to the secretary of the "Amer- 
ican and Foreign Christian Union," written on the lOth of Decem- 
ber, i860, refers to the instrumentality that was being employed for 
the regeneration of the Italian people. "The evangelization of 
Italy," he says, "is now, perhaps, the greatest and most pressing 
question for Protestantism. Italy is no longer the land of the past 



6/2 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

or of the dead. Grand as her history has been, none of its pages 
are nobler than the latest. Instead of the decrepitude of age, which 
the world has supposed to be her condition, she is showing the 
power, the vitality, the energy of youth. The Waldensian Church 
seems to have been preserved and disciplined by Providence in order to 
its preparation for the great part which it now seems destined to play 
in the work of introducing and establishing the Gospel in Northern 
and Central Italy. The question of its adaptation to this task is dis- 
cussed with great judgment in the CJir^tien Evangelique of Lausanne, 
for November. I beg to submit to your readers a few of the points 
of this discussion. A French Protestant journal some time since 
made the remark that the Waldensian Church can not do the evan- 
gelizing work now called for in Italy for the reason that, 'in spite of 
their Italian patriotism, they have neither the blood, the character, 
nor the habits of Italians.' This charge is answered by Pastor 
Meille, of Turin, who, while admitting that the Waldenses are not, 
indeed, such Italians as the inhabitants of Naples, Rome, or even Tus- 
cany, shows that they are the Italians of the mountains ; and in point 
of patriotism and love of country have through many ages shown no 
inferiority to the people of the plains. As for habits and manners, 
Pastor Meille thanks God that the Waldenses are not to be identified 
with the southern masses trained up in Romanism ; but, instead of 
finding in this a disqualification, he sees in it the strongest reason 
why they should be employed in rescuing their less fortunate breth- 
ren from the degradation into which ages of superstition have re- 
duced them. He concludes by expressing the belief, in which I 
think most American Christians will agree with him, that the 
* Church of the Waldenses, as an Italian Church, is destined for this 
work, both by right and by duty; and that she would show herself 
unfaithful to her mission if she did not place herself at the head of 
the movement.' 

**Let the post of honor, of duty, and of trial be granted to this 
long-suffering, persecuted, but faithful Church of Christ. Instead of 
disputing her right to this post, let us hold up her hands, and give 
her all the moral and material support in our power. And what we 
do let us do quickly! The time is now more favorable for Christian 
effort in Italy than it has been for centuries. But who knows how 
long this bright day may last? Let us use it, at least, for the solving 
of seed. Whatever may happen in the political world, the seed will 
not be wasted ; God will take care of it, and it may germinate in the 
darkness, if not in the sunshine. A writer in the same journal 



THE ITALIANS CLASSIFIED. 673 

classifies the Italians with reference to their susceptibility of religious 
impressions as follows : The upper and more cultivated classes are so 
preoccupied with the great political questions of the time that they 
are for the present almost inaccessible to appeals on the side of per- 
sonal religion. They see that the papacy stands in the way of Italian 
liberty and unity, and they are therefore learning to hate the papacy. 
But they are 7wt learning to love Christ. The reaction from Rome, 
for the present at least, and during the * storm and pressure period of 
politics ' amid the birth-throes of the new Italian empire, Is likely to 
carry them into the domain of Indifference, If not of Infidelity. In 
the opposite extreme are the very poor, the lowest classes of the 
Italian peasants. Their Ignorance and superstition are very great. A 
low and sensual type of religion satisfies them, and it is very difficult 
to awaken their minds to hear or think of any thing better. Between 
these extremes there Is a middle class, consisting to a large extent 
of mechanics and working-men In the towns and cities. They are 
better Informed than the country people, and therefore less submis- 
sive to the commands of the priests, and less superstitious. They 
read, talk politics, and are profoundly Interested In the Italian move- 
ment. And the same activity of mind which makes them eager for 
newspapers Inclines them to listen to colporteurs, to receive, buy, 
and read Bibles and Testaments. It is among this class, to all ap- 
pearances, that the foundations of the new Protestant Church of Italy 
are to be laid. And among this class the Intelligent, sober, diligent 
Waldenslan evangelists and colporteurs have found a hearty welcome. 
Their 'success,' to cite the language of one of their own number, 
'if not brilliant, has certainly been thus far highly encouraging.' 

''What has been done In Piedmont in the last ten years certainly 
augurs well for the rest of Italy, now that it is open to the zealous 
men who have labored so faithfully In the North. But the field is 
vast, and the laborers are few. The feeble Church of Piedmont can 
not do this work alone. There is room In Italy for the activity of 
every Christian Church in England and America; and the Waldenses, 
instead of repelling foreign aid, welcome it — even implore it. The 
British and Foreign Bible Society is doing a noble work in the dis- 
tribution of the Word of God in Italy by the agency of twenty-four 
colporteurs. The Edinburgh Bible Society employs eight. The 
American Bible Society, wisely acting through the Geneva Commit- 
tee, employs ten. The Waldenslan Church Is scattering its evan- 
gelists and colporteurs, both on the main-land and in Sicily. Con- 
sidering that it was safer to offer Bibles and to preach evangelical 



6;4 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

religion in Turkey two years ago than in Central and Southern Ital}^ 
we may well exclaim, in view of the present state of things, ' What 
hath God wrought!' I trust that the American and Foreign Chris- 
tian Union will find many ears open to listen to its appeals for aid 
in this crisis- of Italian evangelization." 

Soon after the establishment of the Waldensian mission in Leg- 
horn a student, of the name of Gregori, having Avritten a religious 
tract, was indicted for attacking the religion of the state, and brought 
to Lucca for trial. He was acquitted, and on the same evening 
thirty citizens of the town waited upon him, and prayed him to re- 
main there and instruct them. Services were held in a hall; but the 
landlord, fearing the bigoted populace, turned the evangelist and his 
flock into the street. A house was offered for sale, and they resolved 
to buy it. The bargain was concluded, the title-deeds were signed — 
when, to their surprise and joy, they discovered that the house which 
they had purchased was the identical building in which their fathers 
three centuries ago had worshiped God. They had obtained one of 
the old temples of the Reformation. 

This church was opened several months afterwards, and the little 
handful of Protestants had a place, despite the intrigues of the monks 
and the subserviency of the landlords, where they could regularly 
assemble for worship. The first service was largely attended because 
the priests, desiring to ridicule the occasion, had announced that, 
according to custom, the evangelici w^ould sacrifice an ox in honor of 
the devil. The result w^as that the country people in great numbers 
flocked to town, anxious to behold the wonderful scene. They 
waited until the close of the service, expecting every moment that 
the animal would be led forth and slain; but no such event occurring, 
the spectators retired in disappointment and disgust, denouncing in 
the strongest terms those w^ho had deceived them. 

Thus, after three centuries of darkness, the light of the Gospel 
returned to Lucca. The first ray shone upon it in the sixteenth cent- 
ury, when Peter Martyr proclaimed the truths of the Reformation 
there and organized a Church. In no other city did so many distin- 
guished families embrace the Protestant cause. Driven into exile, 
these illustrious men carried with them to Geneva the light which 
their native town did not appreciate, and while the city of their 
adoption w^as radiant with the glory of evangelical truth a deeper 
gloom enveloped Lucca. But in 1862 a spark from the altar of the 
Waldensian Church fell upon it, and, fanned by opposition, became 
a religious flame. But three hundred years did not remove the big- 



THE GOSPEL IN MILAN, 675 

otry and poverty of the inhabitants. The Waldensian evangelist 
found in its population of less than thirty thousand a priest for every 
thirty -three inhabitants, and also twenty convents. He, no doubt, 
saw the Volto Santo, of which the Lucchese are proud, a crucifix 
which they affirm Nicodemus attempted to paint, but, not having 
sufficient skill, an angel, it is said, snatched the pencil from his hand 
and completed the work ! The superstitious residents of the city 
boast of a standing miracle in the river, which once flowed near 
Lucca, but is now about two miles distant from it. They claim that 
St. Fredian diverted the stream from its course to prevent the inun- 
dation of the city. Macchiavelli, in his "History of the Florentine 
Republic," states that the bed of the Serchio was changed, not by 
the saint, but by the spades of the Lucchese, who, hearing that the 
Florentines, with whom they were then at war, had contrived to dam 
up the Serchio and drown Lucca in its own river, hastily dug a new 
and more distant bed for its waters. 

The Waldenses did not have any serious opposition to the work 
of evangelization in Milan. Indeed, the capital of Lombardy has 
always been more progressive religiously, intellectually, and politi- 
cally than any other city in Italy. The famous edict of Constantine 
the Great, which closed the era of primitive persecutions, and ex- 
tended toleration to Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, was 
issued from Milan, A. D. 313. Here lived St. Ambrose, one of the 
most renowned fathers of the early Church, and a man of deep piety 
and great courage. By his religious influence he maintained the pu- 
rity and independence of the Church of Milan, and made his metro- 
politan see, of which he was archbishop for more than twenty-two 
years, paramount in the councils of Christendom. He died A. D. 
397; but his earnest, devout spirit long survived him, and several 
of his hymns are still sung in the churches of Milan. 

The character of the people of Lombardy must have been differ- 
ent from, and perhaps superior to, that of the other races that have 
inhabited Italy from age to age. If climate and scenery have a con- 
trolling influence upon men, it is not difficult to explain why the 
Milanese have always desired civil, religious, and intellectual free- 
dom. The city is surrounded by a vast plain, majestically guarded 
on one side by the snowy Alps, and on the other by the blue Apen- 
nines. In every direction fadeless verdure and inexhaustible fertility 
can be seen. The writer climbed the central tower of the Duomo, 
and beheld that lovely plain — worthy to have been the site of Para- 
dise — extending from the snow-clad Ortler-Spitz, which rises like a 

44 



e-jG ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

dome in the east, to the shining pyramid of Monte Viso on the bor- 
der of the Waldensian land, at least a hundred and fifty miles to the 
Avestward. It is impossible to look upon the enchanting scene with- 
out feeling that no other garden on earth can be more lovely. Rau- 
mer, the historian, says: ** Milan stands in a sea of green trees, as 
Venice stands in a sea of green waters." For miles around, the land- 
scape is a mosaic of ruddy grape and golden grain, of sycamore and 
mulberry woods, in which are half-concealed white villas and old his- 
toric towns. Through this measureless expanse flow noble rivers, 
which the suns of Summer release from their prison of Alpine ice to 
water the plain, and to be the *'Gihon" and the "Hiddekel" that 
adorn this modern Eden ; while the mountains which defend it on the 
north, pure and white as alabaster, and almost touching the heavens 
in their loftiness, seem, says the eloquent Dr. Wylie, "to be the 
gates and towers set up by the great Architect of all to inclose" what 
was lovely enough to have been "the seat of primeval innocence." 
The rugged scenery of the Alps and the invigorating air Avhich cir- 
culates on the plain at their feet impart to the Milanese that activity 
and independence of character for which they have alwa}'s been 
celebrated. 

While the proximity of the Alps has been a source of material 
benefit to the people of Milan, it has, without doubt, conferred upon 
them moral blessings. In the Alpine valleys of Piedmont the Wal- 
denses have preserved the pure faith of the Gospel since the apos- 
tolic days, and they also endeavored to propagate it among their 
neighbors. The leaven of truth manifested itself among the Milanese 
at a very remote period, and it seems probable that' the Waldenses 
on their borders secretly deposited it there. Hence, Milan was in a 
favorable state for the reception of the Reformation in the sixteenth 
century, and under the labors of the distinguished Celio Secundo 
Curio the Protestant cause rapidly advanced in that city. When the 
Inquisition subsequently began its bloody work there, martyrs w^ere 
not wanting who could endure the most terrible sufferings, and then 
die in the triumphs of that faith which they refused to abjure. For 
many a dreary century the night of idolatry covered the capital of 
Lombardy ; but the darkness of priestly tyranny is being dispelled. 
Its glorious past will be followed by a yet more glorious future. It 
was the first of all the cities of Italy to raise its voice in behalf of a 
religious reformation. One of its journals, in the Summer of i86i, 
discussed the question in a series of able-spirited articles, in which 
the doctrines of the papal Church were boldly impugned, and a 



THE BIBLE IX A OSTA. 67^ 

reform of her faith as well as a reconstruction of her government 
demanded. 

After the planting of a mission in Milan by the Waldenses in 
1859, ^^^^ truth spread rapidly, and entered the towns and villages on 
the plain around. Intra, Como, Monza, Varese, Caravaggio, Ber- 
gamo, Brescia, Cremona, Parma, Guastalla, Modena, Pavia, Bologna, 
and Ferrara were visited by evangelists, and Northern Italy heard 
the pure Gospel for the first time since the suppression of Italian 
reformation. The Protestant religion also penetrated the remote 
Valley of Aosta, a continuous winding path of beauty and grandeur, 
which extends from the plain of Piedmont to the glaciers of Mont 
Blanc. The oldest mission station in the valley is Courmayeur, at 
the foot of Mont Blanc. A minister of the Free Church of Scotland, 
in search of health, visited it in 1856, and by his efforts a religious 
interest was first awakened among the people. In the midst of oppo- 
osition, a little Church has grown up, and there, on the verge of the 
eternal snow, these faithful disciples maintain family worship in their 
humble cottages, and, by the distribution of Bibles and other evan- 
gelistic agencies, endeavor to win the simple mountaineers around 
them to the Protestant faith. Another station is the town of Aosta, 
and, though its population is not much over one thousand, it had 
forty priests at the time when the Waldensian colporteur first visited 
it in 1 86 1. It is said that during the three ensuing years these nat- 
urally indolent teachers actually preached more sermons than during 
the previous thirty. They discussed but one topic, and that was 
Protestantism, and their whole arm seemed to be the warning of 
their flocks against the dangers of heresy. Fearing that their hear- 
ers might be tempted from the "old paths," these papal shepherds 
occasionally burned Bibles in the public square. It is not strange 
that they were alarmed when fifteen hundred copies of the Word of 
God were sold in Aosta in 1861. In the same year the attendance 
at the Protestant service amounted to one hundred and thirty per- 
sons ; but the audience was diminished by the troubles resulting from 
the burial of the colporteur Doro, who was thrown into a grave at 
night where only criminals are interred. Soon after the congregation 
numbered eighty persons, and in the surrounding villages the evan- 
gelists found many present to hear the Word. The third station in 
the Valley of Aosta is Montestrutto, and around it several smaller 
stations are clustered. 

There are many spots in Italy where the sixteenth century sowed 
and the nineteenth reaps. Among these is Aosta, where John Calvin 



ejZ ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

resided for some time. When he departed, he left behind him a few 
disciples of the Reformation. The footprints of the great reformer 
were not entirely obliterated at the end of three centuries, for when 
the evangelical movement entered the Valley of Aosta one or two 
Protestant families were found there who had in their possession some 
heir-looms of the Reformation in the shape of works which had 
escaped the keen eyes of the inquisitors of Rome. These links that 
connect the past and present are full of thrilling interest because 
they are striking illustrations of the providence of God. The ear- 
nest, faithful servant of Christ should be encouraged to persevere in 
the work of sowing the good seed. These fruits of the Reformation 
show that the seed will not perish, and, though it may remain below 
the surface one, two, or even three hundred years, it will finally 
spring up. Every particle of it will rise again in the coming glorious 
harvest of the earth ; and all who have sowed from Paul to Augus- 
tine, and from Augustine to our own day, shall reap together in joy. 
The battles of the past in Italy, which were fought to promote civil 
and religious liberty, and the blood of martyrs, which the earth 
drank up, were the seed whose fruitage is now beginning to appear. 
The island of Elba, in the Tuscan Archipelago, celebrated as the 
spot where the conqueror of Europe resided a short time before his last 
great struggle, was first visited by an evangelist in i86i. As early as 
1855 some sailors from the town of Rio carried a freight of charcoal 
in their speranzella to Nice, where they became acquainted with M. 
Say, a Waldensian evangelist, and Francesco Madiai. When they 
departed, the captain of the vessel was presented with a Bible by 
Madiai, which he carried with him to his home in the island of Elba. 
This Bible first converted the captain, and then several of his neigh- 
bors ; and soon a small company of believers gathered around the 
sacred volume, which was to them a pastor. They were persecuted, 
but their numbers increased. In 1861, when the country became 
free, Dr. Stuart, of Leghorn, sent them an evangelist. The priests 
and monks excited the passions of the people, declaring that the 
devil had invaded the island, and that, unless expelled, terrible judg- 
ments would befall the inhabitants. When the evangelist appeared 
on the street he was pointed at, insulted, frequently stoned, and if he 
crossed the threshold of a dwelling the holy water of the Church 
was brought to wash out the pollution. The little flock endured 
every species of persecution short of death ; and by their firm attach- 
ment to the Gospel, their courageous, pafient, and loving spirit, and 
their simplicity and dignity of manner, they finally disarmed the op- 



THE BIBLE IN NAPLES. 679 

position which the priests had raised, and, without the interference 
of the civil authorities, secured protection from their fellow-citizens. 

The territory extending from Ravenna to the southern extremity 
of Italy was, previous to 1859, under the dominion of the pope and 
the king of Naples. It was a region of thick darkness, wheie igno- 
rance and superstition prevailed. In the early part of 1 861 the people 
of Naples manifested a great desire for the Word of God, and pur- 
chased many copies of it from the colporteurs. The sword of Gari- 
baldi had .recently brought to them political liberty ; but only the 
"Sword of the Spirit" could deliver them from spiritual bondage. 
In the Strado Toledo, the most crowded street in that city, a lad sat 
behind a **stand," that resembled a "tray," filled with Italian Bibles 
and Testaments, and called out, in a broad Neapolitan accent that 
arrested the attention of all, "II Libro ! II Libro !" — The Book! The 
Book ! The clergy, of course, were opposed to the unrestricted cir- 
culation of the Bible. To many of them it was almost an unknown 
book, and therefore they naturally believed that it was dangerous for 
the masses. The only Bible in the Italian language that the priests 
of Central and Lower Italy, and particularly what was called the 
"Kingdom of the Two Sicilies," had seen previous to the Summer 
of i860 was Martini's version, with notes, in several large volumes, 
which could be found in the book-stores. There were a few priests, 
however, who seemed to be delighted with the distribution of the 
Bible and religious tracts. A printer in Naples, having obtained a 
copy of the famous "Letter of Dr. Desanctis to Pius IX," was so 
pleased with it that he issued it in the form of a broad-sheet tract, 
and posted a large number on the corners of the streets. It was 
eagerly read by the people, who openly indorsed its sentiments. On 
one occasion a colporteur from Tuscany was touched on the shoulder 
by a priest, who came up behind him as he stood in the crowd read- 
ing this remarkable document. "Buy it, buy it," said the priest, 
"and keep it as long as you live, for it is the truth." Sometimes a 
Garibaldian soldier, as he passed along the street and heard a bigoted 
priest denouncing a colporteur or Bible-vender for selling the Word 
of God, would express by his words and looks great displeasure at 
such conduct, and frighten away the "son of the Church," for the 
amusement of the bystanders. 

Another indication of the progress of reform at Naples was the 
organization of a committee of priests under the appellation of the 
"Union of the Ecclesiastics of Southern Italy." Their programme 
comprised: First. The creation of an ecclesiastico- political journal. 



6S0 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

aiming solely to instruct the people, and to propound and formulate 
projects of reforms in discipline. Scco7id. A uniform system of 
preaching, with a view to attain the double political and religious 
end, the extinction of hypocrisy and superstition, with national unity 
under Victor Emmanuel. TJiird. Gratuitous instruction in religious 
and political duties, for all classes. Fourth. Assistance for the sick 
in the hospitals, and a method of assisting and succoring prisoners. 
Gavazzi, who had been preaching in the city for some time, addressd 
this association of liberal priests, and in his speech attacked the 
spiritual as well as the temporal power of the pope. An uproar was 
threatened if he should be permitted to preach any more in the 
cathedral, and his friends, desiring to avoid a disturbance, advised 
the ex-Barnabite monk to desist for a short time. 

In an interesting letter written by Dr. Revel, of Florence, on the 
22d of January, 1861, and addressed to Dr. Baird, corresponding 
secretary of the ** American and Foreign Christian Union," the 
statement was made that all the stations of the Waldenses in Tuscany 
were in a hopeful condition. A minister who had been recently sent 
to Pisa reported an attendance of sixty regular hearers, and the 
organization of an elementary school. He was assisted by a young 
Tuscan teacher, who went through his preparatory course in the 
normal school at La Tour. The special meetings that were opened 
for the young people were productive of good ; and the Sabbath- 
school was a blessing to the children, and also to the parents. The 
congregation at Florence rapidly increased, varying from eighty to 
one hundred and twenty, and including about sixty communicants. 
The school for boys, and the one for girls, containing thirty -five 
scholars, the Sabbath-school, and the Christian Union for the young 
gradually advanced, and the theological students by their punctuality 
and industry rendered themselves useful. 

Dr. Revel, while communicating these facts to Dr. Baird, thanked 
him for an appropriation to support colporteurs and students of the- 
ology, saying: '*I am under special obligations to you for all the 
efforts you feel yourself called to make in order to excite the active 
and the generous sympathy of the friends of the Gospel in the 
United States in favor of this work of Italian evangelization, so won- 
derfully prepared by the Lord, contrary to all human foresight. I 
hope that the friends of the Lord in the British Isles and the United 
States will succeed in combining their efforts with ours, so as to 
accomplisli a work whose foundation shall be clear, sure, and Biblical, 
and shall have a future. For, if the Lord permit us to-day to labor 



AN EARNEST COLPOR TEUR. ^Z I 

with a great degree of liberty and in comparative peace in the extension 
of his kingdom in this Peninsula, to-morrow, perhaps, the storms will 
descend on us, and if the spiritual edifice has not been founded on a 
rock, and built of incombustible materials, the fire of affliction will 
destroy the whole superstructure." The same writer, who was chair- 
man of the Waldensian Missionary Committee, stated that in the 
Summer of 1861 eleven ministers, eleven male and female teachers, 
and four evangelists, not ordained, were employed in the missionary 
work. Besides these there were a dozen colporteurs, who received 
as compensation eighty francs each per month, which amounted to 
twelve hundred francs each per annum, or two hundred and forty 
dollars. Dr. Revel estimated the number of colporteurs then at 
work in Italy at about forty, and also declared that the Waldensirn 
Churches could furnish many capable men to sell and distribute 
Bibles and religious tracts, and that the synod had at various central 
points, such as Turin, Leghorn, Perugia, Milan, Bologna, Naples, 
and Palermo, ministers and other laborers, who could superintend 
and direct them. 

One of these colporteurs visited the mountains and valleys wof 
Piedmont with his permit to sell, delivered by the intendent of Pigne- 
rol. With a pack of books on his back, he went from place to 
place, and when his stock was reduced, he came to Turin and re- 
plenished it at the central depot, or Evangelical Library. From 
thence he passed to Alexandria, Placentia, Reggio, and Bologna ; 
then crossing the Apennines, he arrived at Florence, where he re- 
mained several days, selling in the city and its environs; and fill- 
ing his pack, he pursued his journey through Arezzo, Perugia, 
Foligno, Spoleto, Monte Calvo, Sora, Iserna, Capua, and other 
places until he came to Naples. In the latter city he made another 
halt, again supplying himself at the depot recently established there, 
and resumed his Bible-pilgrimage through Salerno, Policastro, Co- 
zenza, Monte Leone, and Reggio. From thence he proceeded to 
Messina, where he made good sales, and then visited Palermo, 
where a depository had been established. He subsequently made 
a tour through Trapani, Marsala, Girgenti, Noto, Catania, and Mes- 
sina, having traversed the Italian peninsula from one extremity to an- 
other, selling the Book which the Romish priests opposed with fury, 
without having been molested in one place, and every where protected 
by the civil authorities. 

The death of Count Cavour on the 6th of June, 1861, was 
deeply felt and deplored by the Protestants of Italy. The monthly 



682 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

« 

journal called, La Biiona Novella, published at Turin, and, in a sense, 
the organ of the Waldensian Churches, appeared in mourning, on the 
15th of June, and contained a brief editorial notice of the great 
statesman, showing his claims to the regard and gratitude of the 
Italian Protestants. The latter, however, were encouraged by the 
appointment of Baron Ricasoli to succeed Cavour as prime minister 
of Victor Emmanuel, because they believed that he would maintain 
the existing liberal policy toward them. Another recent event of 
importance was the meeting of the Waldensian Synod at La Tour. 
Besides the regular members, comprising ordained ministers, whether 
pastors, professors, or missionaries, and two elders from each of 
their fifteen Churches in the "Valleys," there were present the 
Rev. Messrs Stuart and Young from Leghorn, Murdoch from Nice, 
M'Dougal from Florence, Viaux of Genoa, and delegates from Chris- 
tian bodies in the Canton de Vaud, France, and Enfrland. Among- 
the persons present was the noble and venerable General Beckwith. 
The services continued several hours each day, and were extremely 
interesting. Full reports were read relating to the interior condition 
of the Churches as well as the work of evangelization and colportage 
in Italy. The receipts of the Table, or committee ad interim of 
the synod for salaries of pastors, professors, schools, hospital, or- 
phan asylum, etc., were 140,335 francs, or nearly twenty-eight 
thousand dollars, and the payments were 134,757 francs, or nearly 
twenty-six thousand eight hundred dollars. The receipts of the 
Commission of Evangelization, of which Dr. Revel was chairman, 
were 83,457 francs, or sixteen thousand five hundred dollars, and 
the payments 79,692 francs, or fifteen thousand seven hundred and 
fifty dollars. This comprised the receipts and expenditures for col- 
portage, as well as the employment of missionaries. The donations 
for mission work exclusively were 52,642 francs, or about ten thou- 
sand five hundred dollars, the larger portion of Avhich came from 
Christians in Great Britain, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, 
Holland, and Sweden. 

In the Summer of 1861 Gavazzi visited England to interest 
British Christians in the good cause of Italian evangelization. At 
a conversazione, or familiar meeting of friends in the drawing-rooms 
of the Dowager Countess of Ducie, he spoke of the state of religion 
in Italy from a threefold point of view : — i. As affecting and affected 
by the government; 2. In relation to the people; 3. In reference to 
the work of evangelization, tlien progressing. He cherished the most 
hopeful expectations as to the tendencies and policy of the new gov- 



GA VAZZrS STA TEMENTS, 6^1 

ernment. Indeed, with Ricasoli he had even greater hopes than 
with Cavour, because the former was reputed among the Tuscans to 
be himself a Christian man. He described the extraordinary eager- 
ness to hear the Gospel which prevailed among the people. But 
though for the most part only nominally Romanists, it must not 
be therefore concluded, he said, that they would readily embrace 
the truth, or openly disconnect themselves from the papacy. He 
dwelt on the difficulties arising from popular prejudices and antip- 
athies to certain names, such as "Protestant," and illustrated in 
his characteristic style the mode in which these difficulties could 
alone be met. He next gave details with regard to preaching and 
Bible circulation in different parts of Italy, and urged in the conclu- 
sion, that the most pressing want of the moment was more evan- 
gelizers to enter on the field, so "white unto the harvest." He 
stated that one of his principal objects in coming to England was to 
obtain means for the purpose of training up such men, and he there- 
fore earnestly appealed for the aid and co-operation of British Chris- 
tians. He declared that, under the blessing of God, a Church would 
soon be established in Italy, which would, he trusted, become truly 
national — having for its basis justification by faith without the deeds 
of the law. It would recognize the necessity of a regular ministry, 
with a confession of faith — articles, doctrines, and discipline, and, with 
a view to uniformity, a liturgy, not however, compulsory, but volun- 
tary. A liturgy would be required for baptisms, the Lord's-supper, 
etc. This constitutional organization of their Church was essential 
in order to present to the government some kind of regularity. 
Nowhere had the papacy so weak a hold on the affections of the 
people as in Italy, and if Rome could be gained for the Gospel it 
would be more easy to evangelize all Europe from Rome than from 
any other spot. After appealing to the ladies present to aid his 
cause by forming the nucleus of a "Central Ladies' Committee," 
the eloquent Italian closed his address by asking all present to 
remember his fellow-laborers and himself in prayer. He hoped the 
time might come when they could say, "Italy is evangelized, and 
we have ourselves contributed to such a blessed work." 



684 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



Seventh Decade Continued, 1860-1870, 



Chapter XIX. 

italian missions of the ^'american and foreign christian 

union:' 

IN April, 1 86 1, the Board of Directors of the * 'American and 
Foreign Christian Union " issued an appeal in behalf of the evan- 
gelization of Italy, signed by Thomas De Witt, Esq., President, and 
Rev. Robert Baird, D. D,, Corresponding Secretary. In this docu- 
ment, which was published in the CJiristian World, the organ of the 
society, the Board declared its purpose to establish a mission in that 
country, and, having appointed Rev. E. Edwin Hall, of Guilford, 
Conn., who had spent three years as their chaplain at Rome, to be 
their missionary in Italy, they asked for financial help to send him 
to the field as soon as possible. The city of Florence was designated 
as the center of the proposed mission, and among the duties assigned 
to Mr. Hall was that of promoting the spiritual interests of his own 
countrymen, who in large numbers visit that city every year, and 
make a longer or shorter sojourn there. It was stated that the most 
important of his labors would be to direct and superintend the soci- 
ety's work in Italy, embracing the appointment of colporteurs, evan- 
gelists, and ordained ministers as missionaries in that country. He 
was also expected to do something toward the education of pious 
Italian youths for the ministry, for which Florence furnished great 
facilities, since the Waldenses had removed their theological seminary, 
with its professors and students, to that city. 

In addition to the work of the living missionary, the Board pro- 
posed to employ the press as a means of disseminating the truth by 
the publication of books and tracts, and also occasional papers or 
periodicals, made properly attractive and instructive for the youth as 
well as the adult classes. The Board expressed a desire to organize 
an "Evangelization Committee" at Florence, composed of Italian, 
American, and English brethren, of which Mr. Hall would be secre- 
tary as well as a member. They also hoped that Drs. Revel and 
Geymonat, the professors in the Waldensian Theological Seminary at 
Florence, would consent to be members of the committee. The 



THE MISSION IN ELBA. 685 

latter would be authorized to receive the funds for the missions, select 
and employ the missionaries, and transmit to the society full details 
and reports of their labors — their successes as well as their trials — in 
order that its friends and supporters might know what was done with 
their money, given to advance the kingdom of Christ in that country. 

This appeal "to those who desire and pray for the salvation of 
Italy" closes with these earnest sentences: "But what need is there 
of words ? Dear friends, is it not clear that now is the time to work 
in Italy? The door is now open to spread the Scriptures in all Italy 
(including the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Malta, Elba), with 
the exception of Venetia, and the small part of the Patrimony of St. 
Peter, over which the pope still bears rule. The Word of God may 
now be given to twenty-three millions of people in Italy. This has 
been so far the first time in twelve centuries within the last six 
months. Who shall take hold of this work if our American Churches 
do not? Have we not a right to do it? Are we not able to do it? 
If we are not, who are more able? Are our brethren of England, 
who are responsible for more than two hundred millions of the human 
race that are now under her sway? Are our French and Swiss breth- 
ren, with all their burdens? Certainly not. It is we that ought to 
bear a great part in this work." 

The Rev. E. Edwin Hall sailed from New York with his family 
on the 27th of April, 1861, and on the 14th of June announced to the 
Board his safe arrival in Florence. He stated that he had engaged 
two excellent Bible readers from the "Valleys of Piedmont" — the 
home of the Waldenses — whom Drs. Revel and Geymonat strongly 
recommended for both Bible-readers and Bible-distributers. The 
recent arrival of two young ex-priests, intelligent and promising, was 
also reported, and the hope expressed that, after receiving -suitable 
instruction in the "theological seminary," they would be valuable 
laborers in the evangelical cause. A few months later Mr. Hall 
employed, at the suggestion of Dr. Revel, a colporteur and Bible- 
reader, who was a member of the Waldensian Church, to labor in 
several villages between Aosta and Turin. Another excellent worker, 
M. Peccenini, was sent into Elba, the beautiful and populous island 
off the coast of Italy, so well known as the home of Napoleon Bona- 
parte for a year. As the way had been prepared by another colpor- 
teur, M. Peccenini commenced his labors with much encouragement 
at Portoferraio, one of the principal towns of the island. Soon he 
had a congregation of two hundred deeply interested hearers. From 
two other places he received pressing invitations to come and preach 



6S6 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT, 

to them. The priests prevailed on the governor to forbid his preach- 
ing; but, nothing daunted, the missionary instantly resolved to appeal 
to Baron Ricasoli, the prime minister of Victor Emmanuel, under 
whose dominion the island was then placed. A petition, signed in a 
few hours by sixty persons, including thirty heads of families, and 
asking that the governor should not only be forbidden to hinder 
his preaching, but required to protect the missionary in his work, 
was forwarded to Ricasoli, who soon granted the request of the 
petitioners. 

In a report, made by Mr. Hall on the i6th of November, he 
refers to the growth of the mission in the island of Elba, and states 
that the room then rented for public services was too small. Two 
buildings in Portoferraio, the property of a widow who was favorable 
to the evangelical cause, were offered for sale, either one of which 
was suitable for the meetings. One of the members visited Mr. Hall 
at Florence to urge the purchase. On the 9th of December, M. 
Daniel Lantaret, the colporteur, stationed at Verres, in the valley of 
Aosta, sent an encouraging statement of his work. He held Sabbath 
services in three villages — Verres, Viarena, and Chdtillon — and dur- 
ing the week visited different places, entering the homes of the people 
and engaging in religious exercises whenever permitted. In that 
region many professed to be dissatisfied with the Roman Church, and 
said to M. Lantaret that they expected at no distant day to hear 
the Gospel preached in the temples where now the mass was cele- 
brated. Some of these persons, especially at Mount Jovet, belonged 
to the influential class. The number of those who regularly attended 
Protestant services was not large, but they were active and faithful. 
One of them, the father of five children, whose necessities demanded 
his constant care, found time to devote hours, and sometimes a day, 
to those who lived in the little hamlet in the mountains, reading and 
explaining the Word of God, which he had read with so much profit 
to his own soul. 

When Mr. Hall reached Florence, in the Summer of 1861, he 
found less religious intolerance than had prevailed during the past 
decade. Ten years before (August 17, 185 1), Francesco Madai, two 
other Florentines, and an English gentleman were arrested and 
thrown into prison on the charge of reading the Bible. The police 
searched the house of Madai on the Sabbath, and captured two Bibles 
and these four heretics. The Englishman was released at the end of 
twenty-four hours through the efforts of the British legation, the 
two Florentines were banished, but Madai was detained in his gloomy 



FRANCESCO AND ROSA MADIAI. 68/ 

cell. On the 27th of August his wife, Rosa, a poor, sickly woman, 
was also imprisoned in the Bargello, and separated from her husband. 
The lawyers feared to defend them, but finally one noble, talented 
young man called Maggiorani, volunteered to plead their cause. The 
trial, however, was delayed until the 5th of June, 1852, and, after 
two days, a decision was pronounced by the judges, sentencing 
Francesco Madiai to four years and eight months' solitary confinement 
and hard labor in the prison at Volterra, and Rosa three years and 
ten months of the same in the dreadful Ergastola at Lucca. At the 
close of the sentence the husband and wife shook hands, smiled on 
each other, embraced, and in a few moments disappeared amidst the 
bayonets of their guards. 

It is an interesting historical fact that the "American and Foreign 
Christian Union," which sent its missionary, Mr. Hall, to Florence in 
1861, first issued the call for a public meeting of the ** friends of relig- 
ious liberty" in the city of New York, to express sympathy with the 
** Madiai " family and others imprisoned in the grand duchy of Tuscany, 
and to devise measures for their relief Not until the highest judicial 
authorities of Tuscany had refused to release the prisoners did the 
Protestant world interfere. Maggiorani appealed the case to the 
supreme court; but the judges, violating the true interpretation of 
the " Leopoldine Laws," confirmed the sentence of the first court. 
Peter Leopold (or Leopold I) who was grand duke of Tuscany from 
A. D. 1765 to A. D. 1790 secured remarkable reforms in the civil 
and criminal administration of justice. "In his new code," says 
Spaulding, "the criminal section was especially bold, inasmuch as it 
swept away at once torture, confiscation, secret trial, and even the 
punishment of death. . . . All privileged jurisdictions were de- 
stroyed, and the public courts fortified in their independence. . . . 
Leopold's ecclesiastical reforms were equally daring, and gave deep 
offense to the papal government." 

The learned Maggiorani demonstrated that the general tenor of 
the " Leopoldine Laws" was to confer on'the Tuscans personal and 
ecclesiastical freedom of action, and to render piiblic all the proceed- 
ings of government. He also, in reply to Bicchierai, the public 
minister, showed from the writings of Nani, Poggi, Cremani, Ne- 
groni, and other celebrated Italian expounders of the penal code, 
that impiety, to be considered as a civil crime, must be committed in 
public. But the Tuscan judges were only interpreters of the will 
and wishes of the grand duke, and the prisoners were not released. 
Their situation excited the sympathy of all Protestant nations. In 



688 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

England, Scotland, and elsewhere meetings were held ; and a depu- 
tation of distinguished men, representing the Protestants of England, 
France, Germany, Holland, and Switzerland, proceeded to Florence 
in the latter part of October, 1852. They addressed a letter to the 
duke of Casigliano, the Tuscan secretary of foreign affairs, stating 
the object of their mission, and requesting the privilege of an inter- 
view with the grand duke ; but permission was not granted. 

The meeting in the city of New York, on January 7, 1853, was 
an imposing demonstration, and among the resolutions adopted was 
one asking the president of the United states to intercede in behalf 
of the imprisoned Tuscans. The king of Prussia and the queen of 
England also sent private letters to the grand duke, imploring him to 
liberate the sufferers. At length, on the 22d of March, 1853, they were 
released and sent to Leghorn, where Francesco and Rosa met after 
their long separation. They were not allowed to remain in Italy, but 
were immediately placed on a French steamer, which conveyed them 
to Marseilles. Thus terminated one of the most remarkable and 
thrilling cases involving religious liberty which this century has pro- 
duced, and the full history of it, published by the ''American and 
Foreign Christian Union," reveals the hostile spirit of the papacy to 
the Bible. 



Seventh Decade Continued, 1860-1870. 



Chapter XX. 

THE ITALIAN CABINET— GARIBALDI— PROTESTANT WORK. 

ON the 2d of March, 1862, Victor Emmanuel, who, to his sub- 
sequent regret, had been completely under the influence of 
Rattazzi, sent a communication to Baron Ricasoli, which led him to 
convene his cabinet and submit to them the propriety of resigning 
office. The motion to resign was unanimously carried, Cordova 
being the loudest in his consent, and the portfolios tendered to the 
king the same day, though at first declined, were afterwards accepted. 
On the morning of the 3d of March, when the ministers waited upon 
the king to surrender in person the seals of office, they found Cor- 
dova closeted with the monarch, and arranging for his retention in 
the cabinet. Rattazzi fulfilled his promise to Garibaldi by appointing 



RATTAZZrS ADMINISTRATION, 

Persano and Despretis, professed friends of Garibaldi, to positions in 
his cabinet, and subsequently selected other of his friends to be pre- 
fects in Sicily and Naples. Of the other members of the cabinet, 
three belonged to the French party, and two were of the old Pied- 
montese aristocracy. On the 7th of March Rattazzi, having- com- 
pleted his cabinet, announced to the parliament "that the principles 
of his government would be a largely conciliatory spirit to all true 
Italians without regard to personal differences, the removing of all 
dualism between government and nation, a policy of non - isolation 
from foreign powers, economical management of the finances, and a 
cordial alliance with France, whereby that completion of Italy would 
be best achieved, which, as the wish of every patriot, was naturally 
the cherished wish of the ministers." 

It was inevitable that a cabinet constituted from such discordant 
materials, and hampered by pledges to parties so diametrically op- 
posed to each other, would very soon fall into difficulties. Indeed, 
the Rattazzi administration would not have been continued throug^h 
the first month of its existence had not the patriotic majority in the 
parliament been induced by a strong sense of duty to sustain the 
appointees of the king. Baron Ricasoli withdrew into the country, 
and his friends, not wishing to embarrass Victor Emmanuel, voted 
down as inopportune a motion of direct censure, offered only twelve 
days after the cabinet was announced. Rattazzi soon found himself 
compelled to intimate to Cordova and Mancini, two of the members 
of the cabinet, the necessity of their resigning, and to supply their 
places with men more acceptable to the parliament. 

Garibaldi had previously sought to hasten the redemption of Italy 
from Austrian and papal rule by an appeal to the Hungarians to rise 
against their old oppressors, and had, after considerable forbearance 
on the part of Ricasoli, been warned that, if an expedition which he 
had planned to attack Austria through Hungary were not given up, 
the government would be compelled to arrest it by force. The ex- 
dictator had submitted reluctantly, and with a feeling of hostility, 
which Rattazzi had carefully stimulated. On the 12th of April par- 
liament was adjourned to the 3d of June, and soon after the king 
and the premier visited Naples, accompanied by Garibaldi, who, with 
their apparent approval, was already organizing his schemes and en- 
listing his bands of volunteers. In Lombardy, during the month of 
May, he had gathered a considerable body of riflemen, and made 
some feints of attacking the Tyrol. Probably at the instigation of 
the French emperor, Rattazzi, between the 12th and 15 th of May, 



690 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

ordered the arrest of several of Garibaldi's confidential officers and a 
large number of the men he had enlisted, and committed them to 
prison, sequestering their arms, all the while professing the greatest 
regard and respect for Garibaldi himself, who, he affected to believe, 
was not cognizant of their doings. Garibaldi, furious at this unex- 
pected act, avowed his responsibility for their conduct, denounced 
the arrest, and demanded their release, but could get no reply from 
the government. 

On the 1 6th of May a collision occurred at Brescia between a 
mob, who endeavored to set the arrested force free, and the soldiers, 
in which several persons were killed. The government soon after pub- 
lished a circular, declaring in direct contradiction to his own assevera- 
tions that they had good grounds for • believing that Garibaldi had 
not participated in the enterprises for which these men had been 
arrested, and that his name had been improperly used. Meantime 
the crafty minister had persuaded Garibaldi to return to Caprera, 
and on the reassembling of parliament took to himself great credit 
for having suppressed an insurrection, which threatened the public 
peace, reading a professed letter from Garibaldi, to sustain his posi- 
tion. He was destined, however, to receive from Crispi, a deputy, 
who was a friend of Garibaldi, a castigation, which would have 
driven any other man to tender his resignation. 

Garibaldi, meantime, was projecting new schemes and was still 
deceived by the promises and maneuvers of the wily premier. 
He had gone to Palermo, and in the presence and with the sanction 
of the prefects whom Rattazzi had appointed, presented his plan 
for an expedition to attack Rome from Sicily. He aroused the 
enthusiasm of the Sicilians by his proclamations, and, co-operating 
with Mazzini, commenced organizing a small army of invasion, 
believing that the measure had the full sympathy of the govern- 
ment, which, indeed, had furnished it with means and arms. Napo- 
leon HI began to protest, and Garibaldi and Mazzini denounced the 
emperor without stint. Thus passed the month of July, without 
remonstrance from the Italian government. At length, on the 
3d of August, Victor Emmanuel issued a proclamation to the 
Italian people, warning them to take no part in any such enterprise 
as was proposed, as it would be regarded as revolt and civil war, 
and pledging himself to secure for them eventually the possession 
of Rome. This proclamation under Rattazzi's secret explanations 
Garibaldi regarded as a ruse, and Avent on with his preparations. 
The emperor sent war vessels to blockade the Sicilian coast to pre- 



GARIBALDI WOUNDED. 69 1 

vent his passage to the main-land, and Rattazzi finally sent General 
Cugia with orders to prevent the ex-dictator from marching toward 
Rome, but not to interfere with him if he wished to go anywhere 
else. Garibaldi, meantime, had moved forward to Catania, on the 
i8th of August, adopting as his watchword, "Rome or Death!" 
On the 24th and 25th of the same month he succeeded in crossing 
the strait near Cape Spartivento, having had a slight skirmish with 
some Italian troops, in which he lost a few prisoners. 

Garibaldi had at the time of crossing a force of about twenty- 
-three hundred men; and five hundred, whom he had left at Catania, 
were taken prisoners on the 26th of August. It was not a part of 
his purpose to come into conflict with Italian troops, and he accord- 
ingly passed, by mountain routes, from Mileto 'and Reggio toward 
Aspromonte, encountering on the 27th of the month a small force 
under General Cialdini, and losing forty-two of his men as prisoners. 
On the 29th he occupied a strong position at Aspromonte, where he 
was attacked by Colonel Pallavicini. He directed his men not to fire 
at Pallavicini's troops ; but the royal commander was not so forbear- 
ing, and twelve of Garibaldi's men were killed, and two hundred 
wounded, among whom were Garibaldi himself and his son Menotti. 
Two thousand prisoners were taken and conveyed to Spezzia. Gari- 
baldi requested to be put on board an English ship: but Rattazzi 
refused to grant this, and he was kept as a prisoner. His wounds 
were painful, and one of them (a ball in the foot) was considered 
dangerous. The knowledge of his being wounded and taken pris- 
oner produced great excitement throughout Europe. An eminent 
English surgeon was sent to Spezzia to attend him, and his expenses 
were defrayed by a public subscription. After some months of 
suffering the ball was extracted. The Italian government found 
itself greatly embarrassed with the prisoners thus taken. The brave 
chief, who had given Victor Emmanuel the kingdom of the Sicilies, 
was not treated as a common prisoner, even though taken in arms 
against his king ; nor was it to be believed that he was at heart 
disloyal to that king ; he was rather the dupe of the prime minister, 
and had believed himself really doing the king service. From all 
quarters came an appeal for an amnesty for him and his followers. 
At the wedding of Princess Pia, the second daughter of Victor 
Emmanuel, and Louis I, young king of Portugal, on the 27th of 
September, both the bride and bridegroom, and Prince Napoleon 
and the Princess Clotilde, the eldest daughter of the king, added their 
prayers for the amnesty, which was granted on the 5th of October. 

45 



692 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

The arrest of Garibaldi's expedition intensified rather than checked 
the feehng of the whole Italian nation that Rome must become their 
capital. This feeling found expression in the circular of the minister 
of foreign affairs, Signor Durando, to the representatives of Italy at 
foreign courts, on the loth of September, in which he said that Gar- 
ibaldi's watchword ("Rome or Death!") was but the declaration of 
a national necessity, more imperious now than ever. It found a still 
stronger expression at the reassembling of the parliament, when the 
chamber of deputies adopted an address to the king, in which, after 
thanking him for the amnesty decreed to Garibaldi and his fol- 
lowers, they proceeded to say, "the time for action, for the acquisi- 
tion of Rome is delayed; for the present we will strengthen our 
finances by an active industry; we will increase our army to 400,000 
men, and then, sire, with you at its head, we shall see who will with- 
hold Rome from us!" 

The Rattazzi cabinet fell in November, at the reassembling of par- 
liament, under the withering scorn of a nation's representatives, hav- 
ing sunk so low in reputation that no respectable minority could be 
found to support it. The premier, in his intense desire for a pro- 
longation of his power, even for a few weeks, begged the king to 
prorogue the parliament, so that a new ministry might not be con- 
firmed ; but Victor Emmanuel, to his credit, firmly refused. The 
new cabinet consisted of Signor Farini, premier; Peruzzi, minister of 
the interior; Mughelti, minister of finance; Amari, minister of pub- 
lic instruction ; and Manna, minister of commerce. This was a cabi- 
net of great ability and high character. The political condition 
of the country, however, excited deep anxiety, and financial affairs 
particularly awakened apprehension of trouble — the expenses in time 
of peace exceeding receipts from all sources by a very large amount. 
The parliament, from the commencement of the session, was occu- 
pied only in hearing charges against the ministry. Rattazzi himself 
was compelled to acknowledge that, after all his cringing to the 
French, the policy of the emperor was hostile to Italian unity. The 
late circular of the French minister of foreign affairs discouraged the 
progressive party in Italy, and inspired the court of Rome with a 
stronger hope than it had entertained for many years. Indeed, after 
this assurance of French protection, the pope threatened the most 
extraordinary measures against a vast body of the priesthood which 
expressed sympathy with the policy of Victor Emmanuel. 

While the papacy resisted every effort for the annexation of 
Rome, it could not prevent the spread of liberal ideas. During the 



THE MISSION A T FOR TOFERRAIO. 693 

year 1862 the evangelical press was very active in Italy. Many 
works, some small and some of considerable size, were published, 
such as "Amico di Casa," a popular almanac; ''Historic Improba- 
bility of Peter's Voyage to Rome;" Dr. D'Aubigne's "History of the 
Reformation in the Sixteenth Century," and others. Professor Gey- 
monat prepared a "History of the Waldenses," so that the Italians 
might understand the true history and character of that people, and 
also the faith which they had held since their origin in remote ages. 
At Naples the friends of the Gospel were active in bringing forth 
controversial treatises on the errors and superstitions of the Roman 
Catholic Church. Dr. Desanctis edited a publication in the form of 
a weekly dialogue, which had an extensive circulation ; and Rev. Mr. 
M'Kay, a Scotch minister at Genoa, issued an illustrated periodical 
called ^' Lettuvc di FaniigUa,'' or "Family Readings," which exerted 
a salutary influence. And still further, to advance the good work, an 
association was formed in the earl}- part of January at Florence, under 
the name of "The Italian Evangelical Publication Society." The 
semi-monthly periodical '' Bnona Novella,'' hitherto published at Tu- 
rin, was transferred to Florence, and edited by Signor Tito Chiesi, a 
lawyer, and Professor Geymonat. 

Rev. E. E. Hall, the agent and missionary of the ''American 
and Foreign Christian Union" at Florence, reported that, in Feb- 
ruary, 1862, two laborers under his direction were employed in that 
city, visiting from house to house, and selling every day some relig- 
ious tracts and Testaments. Rooms were hired both at Verres in 
Piedmont and Portoferraio in the island of Elba, and furnished with 
plain cheap chairs and tables. The Bible reader at Verres met with 
some opposition in his field. He was twice attacked in returning 
from his evening meetings by "lewd fellows of the baser sort," who 
seriously wounded him with stones thrown in the dark. After de- 
scribing the assault made upon him, he stated that he loved "to 
think that the wounds on his limbs were in a better state than the 
wounds on the consciences of his enemies," and hoped "that the 
Good Samaritan, with oil and wine, will visit them with spiritual heal- 
ing. " This persecution indicated that the Gospel was advancing. 
The w^ork at Portoferraio was very prosperous, both the evangelist 
and colporteur writing encouraging letters, and declaring that the 
preaching service was profitable, though the number of attendants 
had been diminished by local causes. The colporteur being well 
known and popular, had ready access to the people, and sold m.any 
Bibles and other religious books. He preached and exhorted daily 



694 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

in the public square, in the shops and coffee-houses, and every-where 
found hearers and occasionally made converts from Romanism. 

The evangelist at Portoferraio, Melchiore Peccenini, on the i8th 
of January wrote an interesting letter to Mr. Hall, in which he 
referred to the decreased attendance at public worship, attributing it 
partly to the pleasures of the Carnival, and partly to the action 
of Count Guicciardini, general director of the salt works, who threat- 
ened to dismiss his workmen if they continued to attend the evangel- 
ical meetings. The arch-priest who had in his hands the "pious lega- 
cies " or the dowry fund for poor young girls, declared that he would 
withhold this from any who were seen conversing only once with Prot- 
estants. He also influenced other emplo}'ers so that they refused to 
hire any except Roman Catholics. All these causes operating simul- 
taneously apparently retarded the progress of the Gospel ; but M. 
Peccenini, asserted that nearly two-thirds of the population in their 
hearts rejected the Romish creed ; and though, from certain consid- 
erations, they absented themselves from public worship, yet they 
expressed their belief in evangelical truth and defended it in the 
squares, coffee-houses, and other places. Many said that when Rome 
was captured by the Italian government, and all power to injure 
taken from the priests and "codinis," they would openly renounce the 
Roman Church. From Capolivere, Longone, and Rio Marina favor- 
able news was received indicating the steady growth of the Protestant 
cause, and in the latter town a believer, named Quottrini, promised, 
if a church should be opened there, a small contribution from him- 
self and others, as they were not able to make large donations. The 
enemies of the truth at Portoferraio confiscated a little tract enti- 
tled '' Biioii Capo a' anno,'" and published by M. Peccenini; but he 
printed others at night, and sent them all over the island, the people 
gladly receiving them and demanding more. "As long as the Ro- 
man question is undecided," said the evangelist, "these abuses of 
power will exist. Let us pray that the downfall of Rome may soon 
come. In divers ways all our affairs suffer greatly from it." 

The Wesleyan Methodist mission in Italy made some advance- 
ment during the year 1862. Rev. H. J. Piggot had been assisted by 
Rev. Richard Green ; but the failure of the latter's health compelled 
him to return to England. Benedetto Lipolo, an Italian evangelist, 
labored at Ivrea, and fifty persons regularly attended his ministry 
there. A revival occurred at Baijo, and more than a hundred people 
were attracted to the meetings. In other villages the work of refor- 
mation was commenced, and not without encouraging indications. 



DEA TH OF BECKWITH. 695 

The "Italian Church" also made considerable progress, having 
two or three chapels in Florence, one at Genoa, one at Turin, one 
in Pisa, and in other places. Count Guicciardini visited the various 
stations, and reported that religious services of some kind were 
maintained in twenty-five cities and villages. The largest number of 
communicants was found in Florence, the membership there amount- 
ing to over three hundred and fifty; and in Milan at least seven 
hundred persons were accustomed to meet for conference and prayer- 
meeting. Conversions occurred among the soldiers of the garrison 
in Pavia, two evangelists gathered an interesting congregation in 
Bologna; while the laborers in Brescia, Novara, Pisa, and other local- 
ities were successful in their efforts to build up the cause of Christ. 
Signor Mazzarella and Dr. Desanctis gave their united ministrations 
to the Church in Genoa. The former was once a Neapolitan lawyer, 
and embraced the true religion of Christ at Turin, when in exile in 
that city some years previously. In 1862 he was a member of the 
Italian parliament, and had been professor in the University of Bo- 
logna. He and Dr. Desanctis opened a theological school in Genoa, 
to qualify in as short a period as possible evangelists to meet the 
constantly increasing calls for such laborers in all parts of Italy. 

The death of Major-general John Charles Beckwith, the brave 
English officer and philanthropist, which occurred at La Tour, Pied- 
mont, on the 19th of July, 1862, was a sad event to the Waldenses. 
His efforts in behalf of the temporal and spiritual welfare of these 
people have already been described, and his intimate friends believe 
that he expended from his private resources not less than fifty thou- 
sand dollars. He did not possess a fortune ; but his salary as a 
colonel of the British army was handsome, and his mode of living 
simple and inexpensive. In 1846, encouraged by the liberal policy 
of Charles Albert, he determined to attempt the nationalization of 
the Waldensian Church. The Vaudois had since A. D. 1620 spoken 
French, and used it in their schools and religious services. He re- 
solved to introduce the Italian language into both school and pulpit ; 
and for this purpose sent six young pastors to Florence to acquire 
the pure Tuscan dialect. This accomplished, they taught the teachers 
of the schools in the "Valleys," and in about two years the people 
became sufficiently conversant with the language to use it in their 
religious services. In 1848 permission was given to erect a Walden- 
sian church or chapel at Turin, and Colonel Beckwith raised the 
amount necessary to build a large, convenient, and attractive edifice 
on the Viale de Rei, himself donating the liberal sum of six thousand 



696 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



dollars. In 1850 he became by regular promotion a major-general 
in the British army, and soon after sold his commission for a large 
sum of money, which he carefully invested. 




General Beckwith made Turin his Winter residence, though his 
Summers were spent in the ** Valleys," visiting his schools, and 
acting as the father of the people. In one Waldensian family at 
La Tour he passed a large portion of his time very agreeably, and 



BRIGANDAGE. 697 

became deeply interested In a little girl, who often sat on his knee, 
and shared much in his affections. Having made a provision in his 
will in her behalf, he deemed it proper to communicate the fact to 
her parents, who were both surprised and troubled, fearing that the 
matter would excite discontent, if not envy, among their poor neigh- 
bors and friends. The noble and venerable philanthropist soon 
removed the difficulty by marrying the object of his tender regard, 
who had become a young lady. 



Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 



Chapter XXI. 

THE BRIGANDS— THE LIBERAL PRIESTS— MISSIONS. 

AT the beginning of the year 1863 brigandage in the Neapolitan 
provinces was still' very active. A committee appointed by the 
chamber of deputies for examining the subject traversed the dis- 
affected localities, offering full pardon to all the insurgents Avho would 
submit. At the end of February a detachment of sixteen soldiers 
was surprised by sixty men of the band of Chiavoni and completely 
exterminated. The' democratic deputies (the *'Left") of the Chamber 
of Deputies proposed the formation of corps of volunteers to disperse 
the brigands ; but this plan, combated by the ministry, was not 
adopted by the Chamber. The presence of General La Marmora in 
the infested districts in April was followed by good results. The 
insurgents were driven from the mountains of Castellamare, Sorrento, 
and Amalfi, and about two hundred were captured. But in June the 
devastations by the brigands began anew on a large scale. The 
province of Benevento, in particular, became the headquarters of the 
gangs of Chiavoni and Caruso. This time the French troops in the 
papal states in favor of the Italian government, and many of the brig- 
ands were seized at Rome, Civita Vecchia, and other places of the 
papal states, and either imprisoned or handed ov^er to the Italian 
authorities. On. the lOth of July the prefect of Genoa, Gualterio, 
seized five insurgent chiefs on board the French vessel Aiinis] but 
this act the Italian government soon disavowed as a violation of a 
convention concluded between the two countries in 1862, and the 



698 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

five prisoners were conducted to France. Subsequently, however, 
on the loth of September, upon a demand made by Italy for their 
extradition, the brigands were surrendered by France. 

The report of the committee of the Chamber of Deputies on the 
''Brigandage in the Neapolitan Provinces" charged the papal govern- 
ment with giving the greatest possible support to the insurgents. 
It declared that the brigands "consist of foreign adventurers, or of 
bad characters and men in the lowest state of misery, who have come 
from the Neapolitan provinces," and that the papal police have no 
eyes to see these preparations for war, and allow them to be carried 
out tranquilly without offering the least opposition ; that these brig- 
ands, after being defeated by the government troops "have always 
been at full liberty to recover and reorganize themselves by re- 
crossing into the Roman territory; that the papal government "as- 
sists them with, arms and money, and, in order not to be discovered, 
it employs every species of artifice." 

On one occasion, for example, it supplied several hundreds of 
military great-coats, and, in order to carry out its purpose, the min- 
ister of war advertised them for sale at public auction. A French 
priest made his appearance at the auction as the mock purchaser. 
No sooner had he obtained them than he consigned them punctually 
to the brigands for whom they were destined. The Bourbon com- 
mittee of Alatri, Frosinone, Ceccano, Velletria, and Pratica were 
unceasingly engaged in the work of assisting these desperadoes. In 
the Bourbon committee of Frosinone there were of persons connected 
with the papal government a judge, a chancellor of the episcopal 
court, two canons, and a curate. In that of Ceccano there was a 
person of Cardinal Antonelli's own household ; in that of Alatri 
there were several canons ; in that of Pratica there was an arch- 
priest who sometimes accompanied the brigands on their raids. At 
the abbey of the order of the Passionists in Ceccano there resided a 
papal gens d'arme in active service and two gens d'armes living on 
their pensions, who acted as the regular guides to the robbers. 

In a volume entitled a " Historico-political Account of the Brigand- 
age on the Pontifical Frontier from i860 to 1863," it is clearly shown 
that the plan of the brigandage was devised at Rome, and that the op- 
erations were directed from that city. The writer was Count Saint 
Jorios, who was head of the staff of the general-in-chief on the station ; 
and as the whole correspondence between the French and Italian 
commanders and the pontifical authorities passed through his hands, 
he had the very best opportunities of knowing the facts which he 



TESTIMONY OF COUNT SAINT JORIOS. 699 

presented. "The brigands are publicly enlisted at Rome," said Saint 
Jorios, "by the druggist Vanozzi in the Campo de' Fiori, and by a 
certain Piccirilli, ex-sergeant in the former Bourbonic army, and cap- 
tain in the band of Chiavoni ; by the Abate Ricci, and the priest 
Gonella, formerly sacristan of Santa Restituta, in Sora, who was 
named a colonel by Francis II, and put at the head of a band of 
brigands ; and by many others, whose names it is not so easy to dis- 
cover. These brigands are collected and publicly formed into bands 
in the piazza Montanara, at Rome, and are afterwards distributed 
under their several captains, by whom they are paid, clothed, and 
accompanied to the frontier. The above-named Piccirilli and Pietro 
Rondelli of Pescolisodo and Bernardo Mancini of Campoli are the 
ordinary conductors of these small detachments of brigands to the 
frontier." 

Count Saint Jorios also declared that arrangements similar to those 
in Rome w^ere made at Ceprano, Frosinone, and Villetri, and other 
places in the papal states, for equipping, lodging, and paying as many 
brigands as could be raised, and sending them off to the mountains for 
the purpose of laying waste the frontier. A department of the Com- 
munal Hospital, at Ceprano, was also converted into a barrack, and 
occupied by twelve soldiers of the papal cavalry and fifty brigands. 
In many localities buildings belonging to the Romish Church were 
freely placed at the service of the robbers. Numerous convents in 
the Neapolitan territory were stored with arms, ammunition, and pro- 
visions, and became simply centers of brigandage. On the 26th of 
February, 1862, as many as two thousand of these outlaws left Rome 
in a body, and proceeded to the frontier, of course separating into 
small parties before crossing. Priests were also taken fighting in 
their ranks, and in some of the churches a service was instituted, 
termed the "Brigand's Mass," and for expedition's sake, those for 
whom it was intended were permitted to enter the church on horse- 
back. The brigands were often found decorated with the medal 
of the Immaculate Conception. The leader of one of these infa- 
mous bands, Pasquale Romano, who had held the district of Gioia 
in terror, was slain on the 5th of January, 1863. On his body and 
in his portfolio were found papers, "the importance of which," said 
the report of the commission to the Italian parliament, ' ' it would be 
impossible to overestimate." Among others, the copy of the "oath" 
taken by the brigands, with their names subscribed, was discovered. 
The oath consisted of six clauses, of which the second was as fol- 
lows: "We promise and swear always to defend with our blood, 



700 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

God, the supreme pontiff, Pius IX, and Francis II, king of the Two 
Sicihes, and the commander of our column, whose orders we shall 
obey, as God may aid and assist us ever to fight against the rebels 
of holy Church." 

Not less significant were the confessions of a brigand leader, Pas- 
quale Forgione, on the 23d of February, 1863, before a committee 
appointed to examine him. His admissions showed that the oath 
was no mere form ; that the brigands acted thoroughly in its spirit, 
and that they regarded their worst crimes as sanctified by the cause 
in Avhich they are done. When asked why he should inflict such 
ravages on an unoffending community, Pasquale Forgione replied, 
**We fight for the faith." The committee then inquired, "What do 
you mean by the faith?" The brigand responded, "The holy faith 
of our religion." The committee asked this question, "But does 
not our religion execrate the robberies, burnings, murders, cruelties, 
and all the impious and barbarous deeds which you and your com- 
panions have committed?" Forgione answered, " We have fought for 
the faith, and have been blessed by the pope ; and if we had not lost 
the paper which came from Rome, we should have been able to con- 
vince you that we have combated for the faith." The committee 
asked, "What paper was that?" The reply was, "It was a stamped 
paper which came from Rome." "What did that paper contain?" 
inquired the committee. The brigand replied, "It said that he who 
combated for the holy cause of the pope and of Francis II committed 
no sin." Forgione was asked one more question, "Do you recollect 
what else that paper contained?" He answered, "It said that the 
real brigands are the Piedmontese, Avho have taken away the king- 
dom from Francis II, and are excommunicated; but we are blessed 
of the pope." 

When the operations against the brigands were first commenced, 
the French were in the habit of sending those they captured across 
the frontier, and delivering them up to the papal troops, but soon 
every one of them was equipped anew and sent back. Sometimes 
the brigands, being hard pressed, came down to Ceprano and has- 
tened to Rome on the train, where comfortable lodo;inos awaited 
them. The notorious Crocco, who had committed untold robberies 
and murders, avoided capture by repairing with five Spanish followers 
to the papal frontier, where he demanded to be taken to Rome. 
Instead of being sent in chains as a malefactor, he was furnished 
with a railroad ticket, and journeyed openly, with every sign of 
wealth about his person. He wore a gold watch, a massive gold 



THE BRIGAND CHIEFS SUBMIT. 70I 

chain traversed his breast, precious jewels sparkled on his fingers, 
and a profusion of military medals decorated his person. At Rome 
this worthy supporter of the throne and the altar was received with 
marked attention, lliese few of the hundreds of facts that could be 
produced show that the papal government sanctior.ed this wholesale 
system of robbery and murder. Indeed, the pope and his ministers, 
in order to restore the dynasty of the ex-king of Naples, enlisted 
brigands, furnished them with arms and pay, and sent them forth 
v/ith the Church's blessing to spread rapine and slaughter over the 
Neapolitan provinces. Hence the committee of investigation ap- 
pointed by the chamber of deputies placed the responsibility upon 
the authorities at Rome, where it belonged. In their report the mem- 
bers of the commission stated that the war against brigandage from 
the 1st of May, 1861, to the end of March, 1863, caused the loss of 
twenty-one officers and two hundred and eighty-six soldiers of the 
Italian army, *'a painful sacrifice," as the report observes, "when 
the character of the victims is compared with that of the murderers." 
As to the brigands the number of killed, arrested, and voluntarily 
surrendered, exceeded seven thousand. 

On the 8th of September, 1863, the brigand chiefs, Crocco, 
Minco, Nanco, Carusa, and Fortora, presented themselves at Kionero 
to the commandant of the Italian troops, requesting a safe -conduct 
for two hundred and fifty other brigands, who had promised to give 
in their submission to the government. The chiefs left Kionero for 
Lagopesole with cries of "Viva Victor Emmanuel!" and displaying 
the national flag. On the 22d of December the Chamber of Deputies 
adopted a motion, by one hundred and fifty -nine against fifty -one 
votes, to the effect that the law for the suppression of brigandage 
should be postponed to the end of February, 1864. On the follow- 
ing day the Official Gazette of Turin published a decree pronouncing 
the postponement of the law to the time indicated by the Chamber 
of Deputies. The royal mandate proclaiming an amnesty had been 
previously issued. It annulled the penal punishments awarded in 
the Neapolitan provinces for all crimes excepting those connected 
with brigandage and ordinary offenses against the press laws, and all 
persons who had evaded the conscription, or acted in contravention 
of the laws relating to the national guard. The report preceding the 
decree stated that the enthusiastic reception and other manifestations 
which the king met with during a recent journey proved how deeply 
the desire for the unity of Italy was rooted in the mind of the pop- 
ulation. Having nothing more to fear from the efforts of enemies, 



702 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

the ministers declared that it was their duty to second the generous 
idea conceived in the heart of the king. 

Some measures which the government adopted in Sicily in order 
to prevent disturbances and carry out the conscription laws induced 
Garibaldi and several other deputies of the ''Left" to send in their 
resignation on the 2ist of December. Garibaldi, in the following 
letter, written at Caprera, explained his reasons for taking this step : 
"To my constituents at Naples: When I saw two hundred and 
twenty-nine deputies of the Italian parliament confirm by their votes 
the sale of the Italian soil I had the presentiment that I should not 
remain long in the assembly of those men who blindly tore asunder 
the limbs of the country which they were called to reconstitute. 
However, the counsels of friends, the hope of reparatory events, 
and an unshaken sentiment of devotion toward my constituents, kept 
me at the post. But now, when I see succeeding to the sale of Nice 
the shame of Sicily, which I should be proud to call my second 
country by adoption, I feel myself, electors, compelled to restore to 
you a commission which enchains my conscience, and makes me 
indirectly the accomplice of the faults of others. It is not only the 
affection which I owe to Sicily, the courageous initiator of so many 
revolutions, but the thought that they have wounded in her the right 
and honor in compromising the safety of all Italy, which has led me 
to take this resolution. There is, however, nothing in this v/hich 
will prevent me from finding myself with the people in arms on the 
road to Rome and Venice. Adieu." The majority of the ''Left," 
however, preferred not to abandon their posts, but to remain in the 
Chamber; and a manifesto explaining the motives which determined 
their course of action received twenty-nine signatures. 

The Italian government in 1863 was not any more successful in 
its efforts to bring about a reconciliation with the court of Rome 
than it had been in previous years. In order to avoid as much as 
possible any conflicts with the Church, a circular, issued on the 25th 
of March, recognized the right of clergymen to omit the name of the 
sovereign from public prayers, provided they did pot substitute for it 
those of the former rulers. The government also declared itself 
against a motion made in the Chamber of Deputies by the liberal 
priest. Father Passaglia, to require all priests to take an oath of 
loyalty to the king and the constitution. In opposition to this mo- 
tion the government advocated liberty of conscience and the principle 
of "a free Church in a free state," and the Chambers concurred in 
the views of the government. But, notwithstanding all the precau- 



MUTUAL AID SOCIETIES. 703 

tions to mitigate it, the contest between the civil and reh'gious power 
became more and more exciting. The despotic authority of arch- 
bishops and bishops over the inferior clergy of the Roman Catholic 
Church was used very extensively to prevent any expression of 
patriotic sentiment or sympathy with the government of Italy on the 
part of the priesthood. Many priests who openly approved the 
course of the government were suspended from official acts, and as a 
consequence their ordinary means of support withdrawn. Many 
others were restrained from manifesting any sympathy with the polit- 
ical sentiments of the people generally through fear of being deposed 
and condemned to beg for a living. 

As a means of protection from this episcopal despotism the more 
liberal members of the clergy in all parts of Italy organized societies 
for mutual aid. A monthly payment was required from every mem- 
ber ; and in case of suspension by the archbishop or bishop, for any 
other causes than offenses against morality, the suspended member 
received a monthly allowance from the common fund. These soci- 
eties proved to be very useful, and gave the means of subsistence to 
many whom arbitrary suspension had exposed to absolute want. 
The bishops evinced their hostility to all who were connected with 
these mutual aid societies by refusing to promote them or appoint 
them to any vacancies whatsoever. The pope, probably taking cour- 
age from the apparently reactionary course of Louis Napoleon, 
ordered the bishops to suspend and starve the nine thousand eight 
hundred and forty-three Italian priests who signed the Passaglia peti- 
tion for the abandonment of the temporal power. In obedience to 
the mandate the archbishop of Florence suspended from their sacred 
functions all who refused to yield absolute submission to the court 
of Rome. These priests appealed to the government for protection 
and redress. Rattazzi, when prime minister of Italy, did not inter- 
fere with the bishops because he was the tool of France ; but when 
Farini became prime minister he would not permit them to be op- 
pressed, and consequently the archbishop of Florence was prosecuted 
by the crown lawyer for deposing the liberal clergy of his diocese. 

On the 1st of January. 1863, the presiding judge of the court in 
Florence notified the archbishop that by a decree of the council of 
state one month would be allowed him in which to defend himself 
against the charge of abuse of power in suspending so many priests 
for political reasons. At first he would not condescend to answer 
the call of the king's attorney, but finally concluded to do so. The 
minister of worship directed the proper officers to restore the sus- 



704 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

pended priests immediately to their administrative rights, their rev- 
enues, inckiding all arrears, and their benefices, and hereafter to 
execute no decree of suspension without first being provided with 
the royal exequatur. This important step on the part of the govern- 
ment was designed to prevent the bishops from depriving the inferior 
clergy of their stipends for merely political or civil reasons. To the 
surprise of all liberal men the state council, before whom the case of the 
archbishop was tried, acquitted him. In other words, the ministry and 
crown lawyer of Victor Emmanuel were for progress and liberty, but 
his state council favored the pope and despotism. The latter tribunal 
had come down from the da}-s of Jesuit rule in Sardinia unreformed, 
and it seemed strange that the king did not make it conform to the 
new constitution, as he did with the old laws in the courts of Tuscany. 
In this conflict Francesco Liverani, the ex-chaplain of the pope, and 
twenty years a member of the papal court, and Carlo Passaglia, the 
pope's popular champion of the ** Immaculate Conception," repre- 
sented the liberal Roman Catholics ; and public sentiment was still 
more intensified by the revelations of Gennarelll, who published in 
two volumes the epistles in the private archives of the ex -grand 
duke of Tuscany. In them Pius IX, Antonelli, emperors, princes, 
archbishops, statesmen, priests, and confessors were shown up to 
the world in extracts from confidential letters, in which they speak 
their desires, intentions, and plans freely. These publications were 
opportune ; for they exposed the arts, concessions, and fawnings by 
which the papac}^ obtained foreign aid in extinguishing every ray of 
light and liberty in Italy. 

The annual meeting of the Waldenslan synod in May, 1863, 
was one of deep interest. There was a very full representation of 
the Vaudols Churches, and also delegates from ecclesiastical bodies 
in England, Scotland, France, Switzerland, and America. The 
"Committee of Evangelization" reported that there were, outside 
the "Valleys," twenty stations, in which thirty -nine laborers were 
employed, embracing sixteen ministers, seven evangelists, and sixteen 
teachers. At least twenty of these earnest and efficient workers were 
supported by the "American and Foreign Christian Union." SIgnor 
Peccenini, who was transferred in October, 1862, from Portoferralo to 
Naples, received encouragement from the Increasing congregations 
which assembled twice every week in the hall of St. Thomas Aquinas. 
Four schools were organized, consisting of one for religious instruc- 
tion ; one of catechumens, with eighty-six attendants, including an 
evening school of fifty adults ; a Sabbath-school of forty small chil- 



THE WALDENSIAN AND WESLEYAN MISSIONS. 705 

dren ; and a day-school, which numbered about forty pupils. Signori 
Appla, Cresi, and Buscarli also opened schools in various parts of 
the city, in which not less than one hundred and seventy boys and 
girls were instructed in reading, wTiting, arithmetic, geography, the 
evangelical catechism, and singing. In the beautiful island of Elba, 
at Florence, Perugia, Bologna, Modena, Reggio, Genoa, Brescia, 
Milan, Favale, Pavia, Turin, and other places, flourishing congrega- 
tions and schools were established. 

In 1863 Milan was selected as the center of operations for the 
English Wesleyan mission in Italy, and Revs. H. J. Piggott, Thomas 
W. S. Jones, and Benedetto Lipolo were the stationed ministers. A 
girls' boarding-school and a book-depot were opened, and Signor 
Bosio preached regularly in the school-room. The mission which 
Mr. Piggott had organized the previous year at Parma continued to 
prosper. The ordinary congregation numbered more than two hun- 
dred and fifty persons ; and often twice as many assembled to hear 
the evangelist, while hundreds stood in the streets, unable to gain 
admission. In the villages on the shores of Lago Maggiore and 
Lakes Lugano and Como the Gospel was proclaimed, and some 
abandoned the Romish system. 



Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 



Chapter XXIL 

THE ROMAN QUESTION— THE ITALIAN PRESS. 

IN the beginning of 1864 Garibaldi issued an address to the 
Italian nation, announcing the formation of a committee to 
promote the unity of the country; but his manifesto, which was 
published on the i8th of January in one of the democratic papers 
of Turin, was not responded to as cordially as he expected. He 
was a candidate at the elections held at the close of the month, but 
was defeated at Palermo by Signor Robanda. The moderate party 
was generally successful, but the progressives were greatly strength- 
ened by Garibaldi's visit to England in April, where he was received 
with immense enthusiasm. The minister of the interior, in reply 
to speeches from several members of the opposition, stated that 
it was not for the government to declare its intentions respecting 



706 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

General Garibaldi and his party, but that it was, above all, 
necessary to know how they would act. The same speaker also 
expressed the hope that, after Garibaldi's ovation in London, and 
the eulogy pronounced by him on English institutions, and the 
respect paid by the English nation to the queen and the laws, 
no one, apart from the king and the government, would speak in 
the name of the country or pursue a policy differing from that of 
the government and in opposition to the constitution. 

During the year the relations between the Italian government 
and parliament on the one hand, and the pope and Italian bishops 
on the other, remained unchanged. The government often expressed 
a desire to come to an understanding with Pius IX, but it was not 
willing to abandon the plan of Italian unity to satisfy the pontiff. 
In February the minister of justice presented to parliament two 
bills, one for the suppression of all religious corporations, and the 
other for the suppression of ecclesiastical tithes. By the former, not 
only all convents, but all chapters of collegiate churches, and all 
ecclesiastical benefices were suppressed. Nuns were alloAved to live 
in their convents, but when their number in any one establish- 
ment was reduced to six, they were transferred to another. Monks 
received a life interest varying between three and six hundred francs. 
According to the " Opinione''' of Turin the total income of all the 
ecclesiastical property falling within this law amounted in 1864 to 
over seventy-six millions of francs. These new decrees were 
denounced by the clerical party, and intensified the bitter feeling 
between the pope and the government. 

In September, 1864, the ministry was reconstructed as follows: 
president of the council of ministers and minister of the exterior. Gen- 
eral Alphonse Ferrero de la Marmora ; minister of the interior. Dr. 
John Lanza; minister of worship and justice, Vacca; minister of war. 
General Aug. L. Count Pettiti Bagloani di Proreto ; minister of 
finances, Quintino Sella ; minister of public instruction. Baron 
Joseph Natoli ; minister of public works, Peter Jacini ; minister 
of commerce and agriculture, Torelli. Signor Natoli, the new min- 
ister of public instruction, by a decree shut up all the ecclesiastical 
schools as the bishops refused to submit to the common law, which 
provided that the government inspectors should watch the system 
of education followed in the colleges, no matter whether they have 
been founded by the state or are private institutions. The minister, 
also, decreed that the schools of the seminaries should henceforth 
be subjected to the established regulations. 



THE CAPITAL OF ITALY. 707 

On the 15th of September a convention, which had a great 
influence on the poHtics of Europe, was conchided between France 
and Italy. The text of the agreement, as pubHshed by the official 
gazette of the kingdom of Italy, is as follows : 

Article, i. Italy engages not to attack the present territory of the 
Holy Father, and to prevent, even by force, every attack upon the 
said territory coming from without. 

Art. 2. France will withdraw her troops from the pontifical 
states gradually, and in proportion as the army of the Holy Father 
shall be organized. The evacuation shall nevertheless be accom- 
plished within the space of two years. 

Art. 3. The Italian government engages to raise no protest 
against the organization of a papal army, even if composed of for- 
eign Catholic volunteers, sufficing to maintain the authority of the 
Holy Father and tranquillity as well in the interior as upon the 
frontier of his states, provided that this force should not degenerate 
into a means of attack against the Italian government. 

Art. 4. Italy declares herself ready to enter into an arrange- 
ment to take under her charge a proportionate part of the debt of 
the former States of the Church. 

As a corollary to this document, it was agreed also that the 
capital of Italy should be removed from Turin to Florence. It 
soon became apparent that the two governments had not fully 
determined what policy should be pursued in case the people of 
Rome should rise against the papal government and demand annex- 
ation to Italy. A long diplomatic correspondence followed on this 
subject. On the 30th of October the French minister of foreign 
affairs, M. Drouyn de L'Huys, addressed a note to the Italian 
minister at Turin, in which he explains the obligations, which, accord- 
ing to the French cabinet, the recent convention regarding Rome 
imposes upon King Victor Emmanuel. The Italian government is 
to be restricted from employing, among other "violent means," 
against the pope **the maneuvers of revolutionary agents upon 
the pontifical territory, as well as all agitation tending to produce 
insurrectionary movements;" and the ''moral means" are to "con- 
sist solely in the forces of civilization and progress," while the only 
"aspirations" to be considered legitimate by the court of Turin are 
to be "those whose object is the reconciliation of Italy with the 
papacy." The transfer of the Italian capital from Turin to Florence 
is to be "a serious pledge given to France;" and to suppress this 
pledge would be to destroy the contract." Finally, "the event 

46 



708 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

of a revolution breaking out spontaneously at Rome, is not foreseen 
by the convention;" and "France reserves her liberty of action for 
this eventuality," while the Italian cabinet is to follow the poHcy 
of Count Cavour, who "declared that Rome could only be united to 
Italy and become the capital with the consent of France." 

On the /th of November General La Marmora addressed a note 
to Chevalier di Nigra, Italian embassador at Paris, in consequence of 
the publication of the dispatches of M. Drouyn de L'Huys in the 
Moniteiir. General La Marmora stated that the present ministry 
accepted the convention of the 15th of September because its clear 
and precise text could not give rise to any doubt, and because they 
thought that, taken literally, it was advantageous to Italy. As 
the convention provided by positive assurances for the relations 
and exigencies of the papacy with regard to France and the Roman 
Catholic world, he declared that the Italian government repelled the 
thought of ever resorting to secret dealings, which it regretted to 
have seen mentioned by M. Drouyn de L'Huys. It had entire con- 
fidence in the influence of civilization and progress in the removal of 
difficulties ; and while both powers might have their own opinions 
concerning the consequences of this act, it did not believe that they 
could legitimately make it the subject of practical discussion. Italy 
insisted upon a strict execution of the treaty, and would not violate 
it to secure even the triumph of a cherished policy. The king's 
government, whatever might be its aspirations, independently of the 
question at issue, would abide by the decision of the convention, 
believing that the aspirations of a people belong to its national con- 
science, and therefore can not form the subject of an international 
discussion. General La Marmora also affirmed in this note that the 
government had always desired a reconciliation between Italy and the 
papacy, and he expressed the opinion that the convention would 
contribute to such a result; but since M. Drouyn de L'Huys 
had taken the initiative in suggesting the possibility of a spon- 
taneous revolution in Rome, and of the fall of the temporal power, 
Italy would reserve, as France did, her liberty of action for such a 
case. 

On the one hand, the convention was severely denounced by the 
Roman Catholic party, which saw in it a new danger for the tem- 
poral power of the pope; and on the other, it was condemned by 
the progressive party, headed by Mazzini and Garibaldi, which 
regarded it as a cowardly submission to French dictation, and as 
abandonment, at least for the present, of the fondest hope of the 



RICASOLI ON THE CONVENTION. jog 

Italian nation. Garibaldi in reply to a letter from his friend, Gen- 
eral Avezzana, who declared himself as emphatically as possible 
against the convention, wrote from Caprera, October loth, 1864, as 
follows : * * My Dear Avezzana. Like you, I deplore the massacre 
(uccidio) of the brave people of Turin. Like you I grieve (lamento) 
to see our country so badly and so shamefully (vergognosamente) 
governed. From the state of things generally, I think I need not 
for the moment quit Caprera." 

But the great majority of the Italian statesmen and a majority of 
both houses of the Italian parliament heartily indorsed the conven- 
tion. Baron Ricasoli, former prime minister of Italy, and undoubt- 
edly one of the greatest of Italian statesmen, thus expressed his 
views about it: 

' * I regard in that covention rather what it does not say than 
what it does say. The retreat of the French from Rome within a 
prescribed term, and the principle of non-intervention proclaimed by 
that fact, are of themselves no slight matter; but events will prove 
that what at present remains unseen will be of still more importance. 
Besides, what have we to gain without the convention ? And at this 
day, what do we lose with it? The condition of the transfer of the 
capital from Turin to Florence has taken the effect on me of a thun- 
der-bolt from a clear sky. But who could fail to see, on a second 
view, the innumerable effects which will flow from it? These effects, 
I think, will all be in favor of our constitution. The difficulties of 
obtaining possession of Rome have not been augmented by the con- 
vention. It is eventually certain that the Italians will count amongst 
their finest jewels, the noblest and greatest of all, the city of Rome. 
When will this come to pass ? I know not ; but that this will come to 
pass I know. We are in effect taking Rome daily. I will say more, 
daily Rome is coming to us of herself The convention, instead of 
opposing, aids this movement. Let not the Italians throw up this 
great game, and the result will not fail. It will be such as religion 
and civilization unite in claiming." 

The announcement of the convention produced considerable dis- 
satisfaction in Turin, which culminated in formidable riots ; and the 
foreign friends of Italy distrusted it, because they believed that its 
real meaning was the renunciation of Rome as the capital of the 
Peninsula. The convention was also warmly discussed in the Italian 
parliament, which was reopened on the 24th of October. Generals 
La Marmora and Cialdini delivered very impressive speeches in favor 
of the project. Both declared that with this convention Italy would 



7IO ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

go forward toward a solution of the Roman question, prudently and 
slowly, yet without intermission. With regard to Venetia, General 
La Marmora expressed the hope that some solution might yet be- 
come possible, and that the mind of the emperor of Austria might 
be brought to new conclusions relative to this subject. 

On the 19th of November, 1864, the Chamber of Deputies adopted 
the bill for the transfer of the capital to Florence by a vote of three 
hundred and seventeen to seventy; and, on the 9th of December, the 
bill was passed in the senate by one hundred and thirty-four to forty- 
seven. On the nth of December, it was sanctioned by the king, 
and the royal indorsement, in the following words, appeared in the 
official gazette : 

"The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies having approved, we 
have sanctioned and hereby publish as follows : 

"Article I. The capital of the kingdom shall be transferred to 
Florence within six months of the date of this present law. 

"Art. II. To meet the costs of the transfer, a credit is opened 
in the extraordinary portion of the house budget, and under a special 
head of seven million francs, divided as follows : two millions in the 
budget of 1864, and five millions in the budget of 1865. 

"The ministers of the interior, of finance, and of public works 
are especially charged with the execution of the present law. We 
order that these presents, furnished with the seal of state, shall be 
inserted in the official collection of laws and decrees of the kingdom 
of Italy, and ordain that all persons shall observe and cause them to 
be observed as a law of the state." 

This document was signed by Victor Emmanuel, and counter- 
signed by all the ministers. 

Both the government and the majority of the national party 
seemed to be fully determined that, during the two years yet remain- 
ing of the occupancy of Rome by the French troops, no effort to 
interfere with the papal power should receive the least countenance 
from them, as both were convinced that a rupture of friendly rela- 
tions with France would produce disastrous consequences. The 
government found it very difficult to prevent the sympathy of the 
Italians with Venetia from rushing them into a new war against Aus- 
tria. In October, 1864, insurrectionary movements broke out in 
Venetia; but the government regarded them as utterly hopeless and 
useless, costing Italy men and money without the least chance of suc- 
cess. The Diritto, of Turin, was seized by the government for pub- 
lishing a proclamation of Signor Carioli calling. upon the people to 



THE WAR OF IDEAS. 71I 

support the insurrection in Venetia. On the 1 6th of November, the 
troops of the ItaHan government had a severe engagement with a band 
of insurgents, or, as they were called in the reports from Italy, with 
the Garibaldians, at Bagolino, in Northern Lombardy, in which both 
sides lost many men in killed and wounded, but which terminated in a 
capture of a part and a dispersion of the rest of the insurgents. 

The Austrian government issued a proclamation on the 15th of 
November, declaring martial law in eighteen districts of the provinces 
of Friuli and Treviso. Sentinels and patrols were ordered to fire 
upon assemblages after the first summons to disperse. The penalty 
of death was remitted to all those who voluntarily surrendered them- 
selves, or who were given up by the populace. These measures re- 
sulted in the suppression of the insurrection. 

While the year 1864 did not witness many remarkable events in 
the political affairs of Italy, yet it was a period of agitation and con- 
flict. The w^ar of ideas raged throughout the Peninsula, from north 
to south, from east to west, in the parliamentary debates, in the col- 
umns of the daily press, in the discussions on the piazza, in the con- 
versations of every household, and in the thoughts of every heart. 
We may take the press as one of the most reliable exponents of the 
political, social, and religious condition of the country at that time. 
The skirmishes which occurred every day in its columns indicated 
the existence of two Italies — the one that was passing away, and the 
other that was rising. The growth of the press itself was conclusive 
evidence of the progress of liberal ideas. After the enfranchisement 
of the pen in Italy by the revolution of 1848 and the sword of Na- 
poleon in 1859, papers of various kinds were started, and, in 1864, 
every party had its literary organ. The Ultramontanes, being more 
expert at fingering their rosary than the compositor's stick, were the 
last to come into the field. Necessity compelled them to take this 
advanced step, and they resolved to be in the front ranks, having 
commenced the publication of seven journals in Florence alone, 
in the Summer of 1864. 

The rapidity with which newspapers sprang up in every part of 
the country was marvelous. There was not a city, and scarcely a 
third-rate town, which did not have its daily journal, more frequently 
two, and, in some cases, as Turin, Florence, and Naples, almost a 
dozen. The Italians made the press of England their model. They 
conducted their discussions with increasing intelligence and excellent 
temper, though often enlivening them with raillery, or spicing them 
with bitter sarcasm. The political situation was the great topic dis- 



7 1 2 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

cussed by them, and the priesthood the principal class assailed 
by them; not that they desired to attack the doctrines of the 
clergy, but to criticize their inconsistent lives, or, as in many cases, 
their political opinions. Both parties, lay and clerical, appealed to 
the Bible in their daily controversies, and thus a book, which had 
almost passed into oblivion in Italy, emerged, as it were, from its 
sepulcher ; and some of its readers turned away from the morning 
newspaper to the colporteur's depot. 

// Temporale, Giomale Politico- Morale, published in Florence, vig- 
orously assaulted the temporal power of the pope almost every day, 
and the emissaries of the hierarchy, not wishing to have its errors 
publicly exposed, replied to the logic of this fearless paper by occa- 
sionally throwing a bomb-shell into its office window. In the number 
issued on the 24th of June, 1864, we find this address to the codini 
and legitimisti : **You have raised your voices to the utmost pitch in 
condemnation of the wickedness of the age ; you have rent the very 
heavens with your protestations against the violation of divine right ; 
and, in proof thereof, you appeal to the thirteenth chapter of Paul's 
epistle to the Romans, where it is said, 'The powers that be are 
ordained of God.* Benissimo. Constitutional kings and republican 
presidents, being powers regularly constituted, are powers ordained 
of God. In France it is Napoleon III who is to be obeyed ; in the 
United States of America it is President Lincoln who is to be obeyed ; 
and in Italy it is your duty to' submit yourselves to the law of Victor 
Emmanuel as the power ordained of God. Signor Fanatico Legiti- 
misto, you have pronounced against yourself. Monsignor Prete, you 
know how to quote the letter of the Bible ; its consequences you can 
not divine, and into its profounder meaning you are unable to enter." 

This article provoked a sharp reply, and the journalist was re- 
proved for his presumption in interpreting the Bible. He was asked 
why he, a layman, should endeavor to explain its true meaning, when 
this power belonged to those only upon whom it was conferred by 
the Church. The Jesuitical writer advised the heretical editor to 
throw away a book which he did not understand, and which he might 
wrest to his own destruction. To this suggestion the journalist re- 
sponded by asking the priest why his Church had a territory, an 
army, a crown, embassadors, and tax-gatherers, when Christ said, 
*' My kingdom is not of this world ;" and why the pope seats himself 
in the Praetorian camp surrounded by his guards, and beholds his 
troops defile past? Christ's servants did not fight, but the papal sol- 
diers went forth to slay men, though, *'it must be confessed," says 



LIBERAL WRITERS AND THE PRIESTS. 713 

II Temporale of the 19th of July, 1864, "that, of late, they have 
won no laurels, save such as they have gained over the unarmed Ro- 
mans." The editor expressed the opinion that the papal kingdom 
was decidedly of this world, that its charter would show that it was 
not established by Christ, but by Pepin. 

The priests were greatly excited by these articles in the free press, 
and endeavored to silence the objectors by urging the old argument 
that the temporal power is necessary to the independence of the 
spiritual office. "What an admission," exclaimed the liberal writers; 
"then are the present race of popes and bishops but cowards. Why 
can not you fulfill your mission unless you have a park of artillery 
behind you ? Why are you courageous only when you speak from 
the midst of bayonets ? The first pastors went forth to proclaim the 
Gospel in the face of axes and stakes. Why should you, their suc- 
cessors, shirk duty to save your dainty limbs ? Did Christ say to the 
first evangelists, ' I send you forth as sheep among wolves ; but fear 
not, I appoint unto each of you twelve battalions of infantry and six 
squadrons of cavalry as a body-guard : be strong and of a good 
courage?' Were the prophet of Mecca to look up, how astonished 
he would be to find the sword which he had thought was laid by, 
with his ashes in the tomb, drawn from its scabbard by the Church, 
and as vigorously wielded by her priests as it ever was by his Sara- 
cens. 'Verily,' would Mahomet say, addressing the pontiff, *I recog- 
nize in you a worthy successor, and I hereby duly enfeoff you in the 
chair in which you sit ; and no one has a better right to do so than 
myself seeing that chair belonged to me and not to Peter.' " 

These independent writers in the free press also addressed the 
cardinals, congratulating them on their greatly improved position 
since the days of Peter the fisherman and Paul the tent -maker. 
These modern princes of the papal Church were reminded of the fact 
that when the latter apostle visited Rome he was not seated in a 
"gilded chariot, drawn by coal-black steeds," like those brilliant 
equipages in which their eminences display themselves on the Pincian, 
or dash at thundering speed along the Corso. When Paul terminated 
his long and tedious journey on the Appian Way, and reached the 
"Eternal City," he was no doubt "foot-sore and travel-soiled," and 
not in a condition to be introduced at court, or to be presented even 
in the palace of a senator. He could truly exclaim, in the midst of 
the grandeur of the pagan metropolis, "Not many wise men after 
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called ;" but in the 
same city, under papal rule, the servants of Christ assume the titles 



7 1 4 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

of nobility, exercise civil authority, and amass almost unlimited 
riches. Becoming bolder in their attacks, these advocates of a "free 
Church in a free state " proceeded further, by saying that if Peter 
ever visited Rome, in his fisherman's coat and with his Galilean 
accent, and signed all his edicts with the fisherman's ring, he must 
have been a greater potentate than the emperor. Did the latter 
abdicate in his favor ? or was he sleeping, or on a journey, while Peter 
was acting as a sovereign at Rome ? After discussing the question, 
and showing that contemporaneous history is silent about it, these 
writers declared that Peter's visit to the "Eternal City" should be 
placed "in the same category with Aristolfo's journey to the moon." 

The priests denounced thiQse wicked sarcasms, not hesitating to 
call them "horrible blasphemies," and solemnly consigned their 
authors to the regions occupied by Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and 
similar individuals. These papal shepherds not only interpreted the 
Bible to confirm their position, but also interpreted the providences 
of God when an opportunity occurred. When the Avife, brother, and 
other relations of Victor Emmanuel died, the priests declared that 
the constitutional views of the king had brought upon him the judg- 
ments of God. The death of Cavour was also regarded by them as 
a visible manifestation of the divme displeasure. A melodramatic 
incident at Fontainebleau was not overlooked by these interpreters 
of passing events. The emperor of the French accidentally fell into 
the lake in the palace grounds, and, after a thorough soaking, was 
rescued. It was said that this was a warning from God to Louis 
Napoleon that if he did not adopt a different policy toward the 
papacy a greater calamity would befall him. "Transformations," 
said Signor Margotto, in the papal organ, // Solito Dito, "such as 
that of Nebuchadnezzar, are not confined to Old Testament times. 
Louis Philippe fled from France in a little fiacre, and his successor 
may be obliged to leave it in even a more humble guise. The first 
Napoleon was constrained to sign his abdication in the same palace 
of Fontainebleau where he had kept the pope prisoner, and com- 
pelled him to abdicate. Napoleon III has in the same palace signed 
decrees which are not worthy of a Christian emperor and a loyal 
son of the Church, much less a canon of the Lateran ; and the Most 
High has given him a warning that if he does not use his empire for 
his glory and the good of Catholicism he may yet terminate his 
career of success and power at the bottom of a miry pond." 

The lay journalists, in commenting on this article, pronounced its 
logic excellent and ingenious, but claimed that it could be applied to 



THE RADICAL AND CLERICAL PRESS. 715 

priests as well as to kings. As an illustration, // Teuiporale, in its 
issue of the 4th of July, 1864, referred to an accident which occurred 
shortly before that at Fontainebleau. The pope had visited the con- 
vent of St. Agnes, at Rome. A great crowd was present, and, the 
rafters being somewhat decayed, the floor suddenly gave way, pre- 
cipitating the whole assemblage into the apartment below, with the 
exception of the pope and one or two others, whose chairs, fortu- 
nately, were placed on a portion of the flooring that remained firm. 
Beneath was a confused mass of mon^-cs and nuns, groaning and 
struggling, and covered with dust and broken timbers, while the pope 
and his companions sat in their safe niche, "like stone saints in a 
cathedral wall," and looked down compassionately in the gulf below. 
"Now," said // Tenipor'alc, "let us put in practice the lesson in 
logic read to us by Signor Margotto. A manifest monition does 
Christ tender to you, his vicar. When you were a fugitive at Gaeta 
the French restored you to your diocese. You entered Rome over 
the bodies of your slaughtered flock; you mounted to your throne 
on steps covered with blood ; but now God tells you that if you do 
not repent of your wickedness, lay down the temporal power, and 
use your office for his glory, a worse thing will befall you than hap- 
pened to the poor nuns of St. Agnes." 

These extracts from the radical and the clerical press indicate the 
nature of the conflict which raged in Italy in 1864. The discussions 
w^ere not ecclesiastical, as involving the priesthood, or any doctrine 
or practice of the Roman Catholic Church, but simply as to the 
temporal power of the pope. Italy had not at that time the high- 
class magazines devoted to religion, literature, and science, but she 
had numerous low-priced papers, which circulated among the masses, 
and educated them in the principles of j^olitical freedom. The public 
mind was deeply agitated by these controversies, and conflicts be- 
t\veen the government and the codini priests frequently occurred. 
Eleven of them were arrested for treasonable language spoken and 
printed in a call at Carassai for contributions of money to the pope. 
They were tried in Turin, and each one condemned to ten days' im- 
prisonment and one hundred francs' fine. For a long time a serious 
disagreement had existed between Mgr. Caccia, of Milan, who filled 
the office of archbishop of Lombard}', on the one hand, and the 
municipal authorities on the other. After months of annoyance and 
forbearance on the part of the authorities and people of Milan, a 
petition, signed by many notabilities of the city, was sent to Turin, 
asking the interposition of the government for their relief. Mgr. 



7 1 6 ITAL Y STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Caccia was called to Turin, and, after making fair promises of con- 
ciliation and loyalty, was permitted to return to Milan. His first 
acts, however, were in violation of bis promises, and in defiance of 
the wishes of the government and people. Soon after the prime 
minister sent again for the monseigneur, who, according to the report 
in a Milan paper, "obstinately refused to go to Turin to give any 
explanation of his conduct." He arrived, however, the next day, 
under a military escort acting by order of the prime minister, and 
found a home in the convent of the Barnabites, where he had abun- 
dant time for reflection. These events seemed to be preliminary to 
the entire destruction of the great hierarchy, which, like a millstone, 
hung about the neck of Italy for centuries. 

In the north of Italy, in the early part of 1864, many violent 
demonstrations were made by the priests, who were alarmed at the 
progress of liberal ideas. Four young men, who went from Milan 
to Monza, were suddenly surrounded by a crowd of men and 
women of the lower class, who cried out, "Death to the Protest- 
ants!" These young men were taken for Protestants, though they 
were not in reality. Three of them escaped; the other fell into 
the hands of these fanatics, and his life was saved only by the 
intervention of some citizens. The civil authorities inquired into 
the reason of this fury of the people against the Protestants, and 
found that a priest had been preaching against what he called 
heretical doctrines, at the same time urging the people to unite and 
compel the authorities to suppress an evangelical school in their 
community. The sub -prefect of Monza, justly excited by this at- 
tempt against liberty of worship, guaranteed by the constitution, 
entered a complaint against the priest, in order that he should be 
prosecuted under certain articles of the penal code. A colporteur, 
selling Bibles on the public place, was surrounded by some people, 
who bought several Bibles, and then with matches attempted to burn 
them. Others reproached them for these acts of violence, when 
they became still more excited, and overturned the table of the col- 
porteur, and tore in pieces all his Bibles. The police interposed, 
and arrested one of the guilty party, who confessed that a priest had 
furnished the money and excited them to these acts of violence, 
promising that they should gain paradise ! A Turin paper, speaking 
of these acts of violence, said: "Wherever these acts occur there is 
always found behind the curtain the hand of a provoking priest. 
But the civil authority Avill energetically protect the liberty of wor- 
ship threatened by these odious demonstrations. The Italian soil is a 



THREE RELIGIO US PAR TIES. 7 1 7 

free soil, and the first conquest of liberty is liberty of conscience." 
As an illustration of the disregard of the Italian government of the 
spiritual power of the papacy, there were in the Summer of 1864 
fifty-six bishops and priests on trial before the courts for attempting 
to serve the pope without due attention to the rights of the people. 



Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 



Chapter XXIII. ^ 

RELIGIOUS PARTIES IN ITALY— THE PAOLO TTL 

IN 1864 Italy contained three parties, divided by the religious 
question, and each distinct from the other. The first consisted 
of those who viewed Church reform from an exterior and political 
stand-point. The flag around which they rallied had upon it Cavour's 
maxim, "A free Church in a free state." Their whole purpose was 
simply to separate the ecclesiastical from the civil jurisdiction. The 
papacy was asked to surrender its privileges and exemptions only so 
far as these gave it the right or pretext to interfere in civil affairs ; 
and the state, in return, pledged itself to guarantee to the Church 
the absolute and independent exercise of her own authority. This 
party did not propose to accomplish any change within the Church, 
neither in doctrine nor discipline, and even declared that the Church 
must be guarded from the desecrating touch of innovation. They 
insisted that she must be separated from the state, so that the spirit- 
ual could be emancipated from its vile subjection to the temporal. 
This change, they affirmed, would complete the liberty of both pow- 
ers, and bring to them a new era of prosperity. 

The second party was composed of those who looked at Church 
reform from an inner and ecclesiastical point of observation. They 
coincided with the first on the question of demanding of the pope 
the surrender of the temporal power, believing that this step was 
essential to the progress of the Church. Their theory was that if 
she could be removed from the engrossing influence of politics, and 
delivered from the agitation of earthly passions, her former dignity 
and purity would be restored, and instantly her faithful children 
would respect and love her as in the past. As to ulterior reforms, 



7l8 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

they proposed a certain kind of separation between the ecclesiastical 
and temporal authorities, and a reformation to some extent in the 
discipline of the Church. But they contended that the pope must 
remain the spiritual head of Christendom, though they declared that 
his power should be more nominal and diffusive. This party did not 
favor the continuance of all jurisdiction and rule in the hands of the 
pope; but, on the contrary, believed that the "Church," — or, more 
properly speaking, a "Council," — should be made the supreme judge 
in ecclesiastical matters. They opposed, however, any reformation in 
the doctrines of the Church, or any interference with the "dogmas," 
which had flowed from the fount of infallible authority, and must go 
down to the latest age of the world undisturbed and unpolluted. 
While advocating more latitude in "opinions," they claimed that the 
clergy alone had the inalienable prerogative to judge of truth, and 
that the indisputable duty of the people was to believe and obey. 
It appears, therefore, that this party made a compendious classifica- 
tion of all rights and all duties on both sides, leaving the one "still 
in possession of irresponsible infallibility," and preaching to the other 
"the doctrine of unquestioning submission." 

Although strenuously opposing any change in the "authority" 
and the "faith" of the Church, this second party admitted that many 
abuses had crept into the administration of her discipline, which they 
desired to correct. They accused the bishops and higher digni- 
taries of robbing the lower clergy of their rights, and of oppressing 
them in various ways. These fortunate prelates monopolized nearly 
all the revenues and power of the Church, and hence the redistribution 
of both Avas loudly demanded by the parochial clergy. The latter 
also asked for the restoration of the rights and liberties, of which 
they had been despoiled, with the additional benefits of a more ade- 
quate income, a participation in the government of the Church, 
and the privilege of marrying. These reformers, who were mostly 
priests, predicted that such a policy would make a purer clergy, a 
more vigorous Church, and a deeper impression upon the world. 

The third party called themselves the Evangelici, or the Evan- 
gelical Church of Italy. They believed that the "pagan usages," 
tlie "scholastic dogmas," and the "idolatrous ceremonies" of the 
Roman Catholic Church were the fatal heritage of the past to Italy, 
and, therefore, they desired to inaugurate a reform in doctrine, in wor- 
ship, and in discipline, and thus annihilate the antagonism, of which 
the Italians were conscious, between Romanism and civilization. They 
proposed to abolish the papal system of the Middle Ages, and replace 



THE ITALIANS DESIRING REFORM. 719 

it with the pure CathoHc faith of the first age. By this method 
alone, they claimed, could there be at once a complete and perman- 
ent reconciliation between religion and progress, Christianity and 
civilization. 

In 1864 the more thoughtful of the Italian people were anxiously 
discussing the important question as to which of these parties could 
solve the problem of the nation's deliverance. It was not a matter 
of mere speculation, but, as they believed, one which involved the 
life or death of their country. The papacy continued firm and 
defiant, creating a still more bitter antagonism between the religious 
faith of the nation and its political and social progress. The longer 
the Italians pondered over this problem the more inextricable it 
became; but they resolved to persevere in their efforts, because to 
abandon their purpose would be the giving up of a grand oppor- 
tunity and welcoming national ruin. "Behind us," once exclaimed 
the minister La Marmora, "is the abyss." They could not retreat 
without throwing away all that they had already achieved. Hence 
they must advance, and look to one of the three parties, then in the 
field, to meet the emergencies of the hour by establishing order and 
consolidating their liberties. 

Previous to i860 the Italians were entirely occupied in discuss- 
ing the political question, and desired only the statute. When this 
was granted, a speedy adjustment of their difficulties followed, and 
the most sanguine among them were surprised at the glorious vic- 
tory so suddenly won. But they discovered soon after that their 
liberties were still incomplete, and that their country was a house 
divided against itself They wondered why the fires of revolution 
smoldered beneath them, and why the sword of war was yet sus- 
pended over their heads. At length, the truth flashed upon their 
minds that a mightier obstacle than the political question obstructed 
their path. They almost unanimously came to the conclusion that 
the papal Church was the great hinderance. Although artfully 
disguising its true character under a spiritual aspect, nevertheless 
it made its power effectually felt. The Italians then naturally wished 
to l<now why there should be antagonism between religion and pro- 
gress, and whether this hostility was attributable to the inherent 
nature of religion, or was simply the outgrowth of a vicious ecclesias- 
tical system. 

The newspapers and other publications of that period reveal the 
actual state of public sentiment regarding the various expedients 
which had been proposed for the solution of Italy's grand problem — 



720 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

the removal of this antagonism, and the reconciHation of the national 
Church with civilization. In the months of June and July, 1864, 
La Persevei'miza of Milan contained able discussions of this great 
question. The writer first reviewed the position of the party who 
have for their motto, "A free Church in a free state." He asked 
whether the state could consistently permit the Church to define the 
limits of her own powers. If so, then it must abandon its functions, 
and return to the dark ages. The state, he argued, must itself define 
its limits. It finds that it has certain interests and rights in matters 
not exclusively secular, as Church property, religious corporations, 
the power of bishops, and the parochial clergy, universities and 
schools, baptismal registers, marriages, and burials. These rights, 
he asserted, belong to the state, and it should, by its own laws, 
maintain them, and even recover them by force, if they happen to 
be taken from it. The state can only be called free as regards the 
Church when all these rights have been restored to it. But the 
Church denies the power of the state to abolish the religious orders, 
to appropriate ecclesiastical domains, to enact civil marriage, to 
frame a national system of education, and to do other things, which, 
at that time, this writer declared, it was actually doing. The state 
understood liberty to mean one thing and the Church construed 
it to mean another. How then, he asked, can we determine which 
of the two liberties are referred to in the motto, * * A free Church in 
a free state?" The two are contrary, because if the state is free 
the Church is bound, and vice versa. In this article, entitled, La 
Qiiestione Religiose hi Italia, the author, Aristide GabelH, touched 
the whole difficulty of the question, and, in closing his argument 
expressed the opinion that the formula, **A free Church in a free 
state," would remain a dead letter unless the Church herself should 
undergo an essential change. 

In his eloquent brochure, La C hie sa Romana e V Italia, or "The 
Roman Church and Italy," F. De Boni, presented similar views. 
''Incredible to be told," said he, "we sport with the honor, the 
life, the future of our country under the formula, * A free Church 
in a free state.' It is repeated on every occasion, but each takes 
it in his own sense. . . . It is vaunted as a maxim in which 
lies wrapped up in the salvation of the country. This is not 
quite so evident. One of the two must contain the other, or 
there must be an absolute separation between them. The Church 
must conquer the state, or the state must make the Church com- 
pletely subordinate, or state and Church must live in a complete 



FILIPPO PERFETTPS VIEWS. 72 1 

divorce, and flow in channels as far apart as those of two rivers, 
which empty themselves into different oceans." After enlarging on 
the dogmas, and the methods she adopts to compel belief of these, 
he declared that the Roman Catholic Church had brought miseries on 
Italy, "enough to make the stones cry out," and closed by saying, 
"After all this, it is necessary to repeat, that the maxim, *A free 
Church in a free state,' is for Italy an impossibility. The phrase is 
simply equivalent to this other, ' A Church free to attack the free 
state.' " 

The second party occupied an intermediate position, advocating 
a separation between Church and state, and a scheme of ecclesias- 
tical reform which was truly a limited one. They were regarded 
as innovators by the Church, and despised by th.e laity, who con- 
sidered them behind the age. While proposing to abate a few of 
the grosser scandals of the papacy, they did not seek to remove the 
cause of these evils. At one time they would denounce the tem- 
poral power of the pope, and create the impression that they were 
with the evangelicals; at another, they would defend the spiritual 
papacy, and talk like Ultramontanes. Their position was neither 
consistent nor logical, because if the Church be infallible, as they 
maintained, then they advanced too far; but, if she be not infallible, 
which they practically conceded when they said that she had become 
tyrannical in government and corrupt in practice, then they did not 
proceed far enough. The idea prevailed in England and America 
that a large party among the priests, favorable to enlightened scrip- 
tural reform, existed in Italy at that time ; but such was not the case. 
Their views were misunderstood, and they received credit for more 
liberal sentiments than they really entertained. 

Filippo Perfetti, formerly secretary of Cardinal Marini, librarian 
of the University of Rome, and, in 1864, professor of Italian litera- 
ture in the University of Perugia, was a prominent representative of 
this class. He was considered one of the most advanced of the 
ecclesiastical reformers of Italy, and, better still, a true disciple of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. "Papal Rome," he declared in his Dclle 
Nuovi Condizioni del Papato, or "New Conditions of the Papacy," 
"is a more abnormal fact, and, by consequence, a more impious 
fact than Islam." Again he said, "The throne of the pope will 
fall to-day or to-morrow ; the sooner the better, the better for the 
good of Italy and the character of the \)apacy. " "The people," 
he continued, "have not been able to see what a jewel the Gospel 
is, because it was set in a metal too base, the same of which their 



722 ITAL V 577? UGGLING INTO LIGHT, 

chains were made." In a more recent work, // Clero e la Socicta, 
ossia della Refonna dclla Chiesa, or "The Clergy and Society," he 
asserted that the priests had ceased to make converts, and thus 
related his own experience: "I have asked of all those Christians to 
whom that which is seen and felt wns but a shadow — those Chris- 
tians, who felt in the life that decays, the inner life that endures — the 
way by which they were brought to Jesus Christ and to peace. 
Some have indicated to me the Bible, some have spoken to me of 
the traditions contained in the writings of the Fathers, some have 
pointed me to the heaven above, some have answered like the 
mystic in his simplicity. Via cniciSy via hicis, but hardly one has 
pointed me to the priest." 

It Avould seem that a man like Perfetti must be antagonistic to 
the pope, repudiating forever the authority of Peter's chair, and 
laboring heart and hand to erect in his native Italy a free and inde- 
pendent Church, having no head but Christ, and recognizing no 
infallible standard but the Bible. Strange as it may appear, neither 
this leader nor any of his followers contributed their influence toward 
the erection of this glorious temple, but simply endeavored to remove 
one or two clumsy buttresses from the old edifice, though desiring to 
preserve the edifice itself. Perfetti and his party bowed humbly be- 
fore the spiritual throne of the pontiff. "The pope," says Perfetti, 
in the work already referred to, "is not a subject of the king of 
Italy, or of any king or emperor. The pope has an office which has 
been committed to him by God, and which is not derived from man." 
"The pope is free and independent, not by the laws of the state, or 
in virtue of any convention, but by recognition of his own divine 
right." After making these statements he declared that "no political 
government can circumscribe or intervene in the action of the pope, 
or control his relations with the Catholic world." He next proceeded 
to weigh Protestantism and Catholicism in his balance, and decided 
that the latter was immensely superior to the former. "On that 
account," he asserted — that is, on account of its subjectivity — 
" P4"otestantism is inferior, immeasurably inferior, to Catholicism, 
Protestantism can not absorb Catholicism because it is not organic; 
Catholicism, being divinely organic, is able to absorb Protestantism, 
which in its essence is too spiritual and mystical. Catholicism is the 
man and the Church — the man in the Church and the Church in the 
man ; that is to say, the man in union to Christ and in communion 
with the saints, and Christ manifested in him." 

Such were the views of these Neo-Catholics, who endeavored to 



THE PAOLOTTI. 723 

occupy a middle-ground on the question at issue between the Church 
and the state. The result was that they were exposed to a cross- 
fire — the Church which they had abandoned attacking them, and the 
state but feebly defending them. They did not have that clearness 
of view, that comprehensiveness of breadth, and that energy and 
boldness of action which were essential to awaken the sympathy 
and command the confidence of the nation. The more enlightened 
Italians could not, therefore, depend upon this party to solve their 
problem, not knowing whether the new Catholicism would be less 
antagonistic to civilization than the old. De Boni, in his work, *'The 
Inquisition, or the Calabrian Waldenses," no doubt expressed the 
popular feeling when he said: "We must adapt our arms to the 
character and strength of the enemy. The Church has confiscated 
Italy in the name of God, chaining our country to her own altars ; 
and we shall not be able to break either the country's chains or our 
own without overturning those altars, which are based on the cupid- 
ity of a caste and the ignorance of the people. . . . The Church 
of Rome is immortal rebellion, pitching her tent, in God's name, in 
Italy; and it is impossible to escape the dilemma: Italy, or the 
Church must perish." 

While these three parties favored a reformation, more or less, in 
the Roman Catholic Church, there was another in Italy wdiich resisted 
all progress. The Paolotti, or the Jesuits, made their presence 
every-where felt, though the sound of their footsteps was not heard. 
The word ''Jesuit" had filled Italy and the rest of Europe with 
terror because it represented a malignant power, surrounded with 
impenetrable darkness, ''hearing with its ear," says Dr. Wylie, "all 
that was said, and seeing with its eye all that was done." As an 
army which meditated a night attack would not light signal-fires and 
beat drums, so the Jesuits, in order to accomplish certain results in 
Italy, discarded their odious name, and adopted one not so suggestive 
of their dark record. Hence they desired to be known as Paolotti — 
in other words, the members of the order of St. Vincent de Paul. 
"The order of Jesus and the order of St. Vincent de Paul," said a 
Turinese journal in 1864, "have come out of two separate eggs, but 
one mother has sat on both — the Roman curia." "In every Pao- 
lotto," observed another, "we behold a Jesuit. The wolf has lost 
his skin; he has not lost his teeth or dropped his visor." 

Although differing in name, the Jesuits and the Paolotti were 
essentially the same in their moral principles, and political aims. The 
maxim of both was that "the end justifies the means," — a code not 

47 



724 ^TAL V STJ^ UG CLING INTO LIGHT. 

only concise, but also convenient, raising no troublesome questions 
about the violation of oaths, and finding no sins in acts of perjury or 
deeds of blood. According to their creed the Church was the one 
society for which all others existed, and to promote her welfare was 
ever the paramount consideration. Hence, whatever means were 
employed for this purpose were sanctified, crimes even becoming 
virtues, and the worst classes of men being transformed into public 
benefactors. Such were the ethics of the Jesuits, and the newspapers 
of Turin and Florence in 1864 asserted that such were the ethics of 
the Paolotti. They possessed the same spirit of intolerance, and 
seized every opportunity to rectify whatever they regarded as errone- 
ous in the opinions or institutions of the age. Their growth in Italy 
was remarkably rapid. They sprang up, we might say, in a night, 
like the prophet's gourd, and their portentous shadow soon darkened 
the whole Peninsula from the snows of the Alps to the fires of ^tna. 
Just as the Jesuits were called into existence by the Reformation, so 
the awakening in Italy brought the Paolotti upon the scene. Their 
work was to extinguish every spark of mental freedom and spiritual 
light that shone in Italy, and to lead the nation, once more blindfold 
and fettered, to the foot of the pope's throne and the shrine of the 
Madonna. To accomplish their purpose, they first resolved to over- 
throw the statuto, and then restore the Bourbon. 

It seems almost marvelous that such a vast confederation should 
come into existence in so short a time. According to reliable ac- 
counts, the numerous membership and perfect organization of the 
Paolotti were the creation of a few short years. After all, it was 
not very difficult to extemporize such a society when the materials 
for its construction were so plenty in Italy. The diplomacy of 
Cavour and the sword of Garibaldi had made a united kingdom ; but 
they could not create a united sentiment in the Peninsula. The old 
parties, with all their ignorance and prejudices, remained, and could 
not be banished from the country as easily as the dynasties. There 
were, first of all, the old and well-known parties of the Codini and 
Sanfedisti, composed of the prominent Roman Catholic families, who 
were conservative from wealth, and still more from tradition and 
aristocratic connection. They were still warm friends of the fallen 
dynasties, which misfortune had rendered more sacred than ever to 
them. Then there were the employes of the former governments, 
many of whom, while living upon the bounty of the present, reserved 
their best wishes, and Avhen an opportunity occurred their best efforts, 
for the old. The next class consisted of the pensioners of the priest- 



THE WORK OF THE PAOLOTTL 725 

hood, who were numerous, as might be expected from the decay of 
agriculture and the ruin of trade. Finally, there were the fanatics, 
who were strong in number and revolutionary in spirit. When the 
new constitution was suddenly launched upon the political sea com- 
posed of so many diverse elements, it produced great commotion, 
shocking prejudices, and producing a conflict of interests. In this 
state of society, when old ties were being dissevered, and enemies, 
secret and open, were appearing on every side, faction was strong, 
and, like the fabled warrior, had only to stamp v/ith its foot, and an 
army rose from the ground. 

Each club of the Paolotti was under the direction of a president 
and a secretary. The communal clubs reported to the provincial 
centers, and the latter reported to Rome, where the head of these 
confederated societies resided and directed all. They professed to do 
religious work exclusively, bestowing alms on the poor, and admin- 
istering consolation to the sick. To teach the young the wholesome 
lessons of the Dottrina Christiana, and to comfort the dying with the 
last rites of the Church, were special duties which they seldom neg- 
lected. Belonging to every rank of life from the noble to the beggar, 
practicing every trade and profession, advocating every shade of pol- 
itics, and wearing every disguise, they understood how to open every 
closed door and to enter the most secret places. They even insinu- 
ated themselves into the bureaus of government, and while eating the 
bread of the state were plotting for its overthrow. The workshoj^s 
and working-men's clubs swarmed with them ; but their greatest de- 
sire was to be tutors and school-masters, so that they could control 
the rising generation. 

"In Leghorn," says // Teniporale o( \.\\e 12th of July, 1864, "this 
sect has insinuated itself in great numbers into every place. We do 
not speak of the offices of government, where they may be seen 
lounging in their easy-chairs, reading the Annonia and the Cainpa?iile ; 
but in every establishment of public instruction, in every orphanage, 
in every institution of charity, and even in the associations of the 
operatives, in the municipal offices, and in the communal council 
itself, they have their agents, acting upon the immoral maxim that 
'the end justifies the means,' supporting every wickedness, and by 
every base means attempting to enlist members and acquire power." 
In the same paper, of the 12th of May, 1864, we find a speech de- 
livered by Signor Siccoli in parliament a few days previous. "This 
society of St. Vincent de Paul," said he, "enjoys the sympathy of 
the rich families, who abundantly aid them with money. In Tuscany 



726 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

the infant -asylums are under their charge. They make it their 
business to train servants, merchants, school-masters ; and hardly has 
a vacancy taken place before the society has found a suitable mem- 
ber of its own to fill it. By these means, a Paolotto was made pres- 
ident of the bank of Tuscany ; a Paolotto was made secretary of the 
chamber of commerce at Florence; a Paolotto was named for em- 
ployment in the secretaryship of the public accounts. We have Pa- 
olotti," said Signor Siccoli, in conclusion, "in this Chamber." 

In its issue of the 4th of September, 1864, the Avissatore Alessan- 
drino said: "The Paolotto is found in the court, in the ministry, in 
the parliament ; the Paolotto is found in the prefecture, on the tribu- 
nals, in the courts of appeal, in the dogga, in the barracks, in the 
navy, in the schools, in the lyceums, in the administration of the sav- 
ings'-bank, the lottery, and the hospitals. -The Paolotto is found in 
the democratic club, in the operative association ; in short, he is 
every-where. This race of chameleon Jesuits conspire in secret, and 
sow by the deadly talk of their mouths the seeds of a clerical and 
Bourbonic reaction. Do you demand a proof? Wherever reaction 
has taken place in Italy, there first has come the Paolotto. This 
powerful body, with its numerous affiliated branches, is spread not 
only over all Italy but over all Europe." 

"This wolf in sheep's clothing," said Domenico Bomba di Roma, 
"is committing great ravages on the coast of Liguria. The order 
of St. Vincent de Paul has two associations in Genoa, whose opera- 
tions ramify through affiliated clubs over the whole seaboard on both 
sides of the city. The traveler who visits the Riviera on the working 
days is struck with admiration at the rising trade and teeming popula- 
tions of the numerous towns which line the shore ; but let him revisit 
these places on a festa, and he will be still more struck with dismay at 
the superstition of the people, as gross as any he may have witnessed in 
the far south among the lazzaroni on the shores of the bay of Naples. 
And yet the population of the Riviera have been now twelve years 
•under a free constitution." The writer ascribed the low state of the 
people in moral enlightenment to the influence of the Paolotti, and 
complained that while the government fettered other societies, it gave 
unrestricted liberty of action to an "association which tramples on 
every law, abuses every privilege of human intercourse, whether of 
the family or of friendship, and forms one of the mightiest existing 
obstacles to the stability and independence of the kingdom of Italy." 

It appears, therefore, that there was a sacerdotal army in Italy as 
well as a royal one, and perhaps the former was larger than the 



THE BIBLE IN NORTHERN ITAL Y. 727 

latter, but its muster-roll was not within reach of the public, and 
consequently its numbers could only be approximated. The soldiers 
were admirably drilled, and were ready for the great conflict which 
seemed to be rapidly approaching. 



Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 



Chapter XXIV. 

PR TEST ANT MISSIONS AD VANCING. 

WHILE the first and second parties described in a previous 
chapter were striving to secure their favorite reforms, and the 
Paolotti were resisting both, the third or evangelical party endeav- 
ored to preach the doctrines of a pure Christianity, believing that 
God's truth, diffused among the masses, would finally regenerate 
Italy, politically and religiously. This important work was greatly 
accelerated during the year 1864, through the agency of the Wal- 
denses, aided by the "American and Foreign Christian Union." The 
latter society, in the beginning of 1864, sent Rev. W. Clark to 
Northern Italy to superintend its missions there. Its organ, the 
Christian WoHd, in referring to his departure for that field, expressed 
itself hopefully concerning the new center of missionary effort at 
Milan. Although Northern Italy was more enlightened and more 
forward in asserting political freedom than the central or southern 
part, yet she did not accept the Bible and the evangelist as cordially 
as might have been expected. The people, both high and low, de- 
sired liberty but, influenced by Gioberti's teaching, they strangely 
hoped for deliverance at the hands of the pope. The Upper Cham- 
ber at Turin had been ruled by a bigoted aristocracy, who clung to 
the idea of a reconciliation between Pius IX and King Victor Em- 
manuel. Both in Piedmont and Lombardy, all classes, except the 
Waldensians, were reluctant to cast off the pope and take the Bible, 
which is the acknowledged antagonist of the papacy. Even in Central 
Italy the Bible had a more extensive circulation than in Piedmont. 

But by the operation of certain potent influences a great change 
had come over Northern Italy, which rendered it a promising field 
for Protestant effort. The whole of that fertile region, extending 



728 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

from the bay of Genoa to the confines of the Venetian territory, in- 
cluding, perhaps, nearly half the great basin of the Po and the 
Adige, and likewise the long valley of Aosta, stretched out their 
hands for the Bible. Prayer-meetings multiplied, and were fully 
attended, and even preachers were called for with increasing earnest- 
ness. This revolution in public sentiment was in part caused by the 
pope's persistent '' non possumus'' reply to every proposal favorable 
to liberty. This reply — "it is impossible" — to all petitions for the 
inalienable rights of humanity, wearied and digusted those who 
meant to hold both liberty and papacy, and showed them that the 
union of the two was indeed ^' impossible.^' Then they commenced 
to study the Bible, and, abandoning the pope, accepted the senti- 
ments, practices, and men sanctioned by God's Word. This auspi- 
cious indication was further noticed by the Christian Wo7'ld, which 
said: "Surely the time of commencing our new enterprise is most 
opportune. May we not hope that Mr. Clark, establishing his female 
seminary, preaching himself in Italian, and organizing a corps of 
native colporteurs and evangelists, will be the instrument in God's 
hand of great usefulness, not only to Northern Italy, but also to por- 
tions of Austria, now also open to the truth of God ? Will not our 
readers accompany this new undertaking with special supplications to 
God for his richest blessings upon it?" 

Soon after his arrival at Milan Mr. Clark reported that he was 
greatly encouraged with the prospect of doing good. He was in- 
formed by a Bible-woman that she was kindly received in all parts 
of the city by the people, who gladly listened to the reading of the 
Word. In his letter to Dr. Campbell, secretary of the "American 
and Foreign Christian Union," he said: "Would that I could make 
known to you and your committee fully my own view of the impor- 
tance of aiding just now the work of evangelization in this great cen- 
tral city of Italy. Day by day I am impressed more and more with 
the conviction that now the opportunity is afforded if Christians 
abroad desire to help onward the work of religious reform in this 
land. Providence has thrown the door wide open, the Church rpay 
now apply her power to effect great results. As this city, with its 
population of two hundred and thirty thousand, is one of the prin- 
cipal centers of Italian freedom, and the strongest bulwark of this 
land against Austrian despotism, so it has become the most impor- 
tant center of evangelization. In no other city in Italy is there so 
large a number who listen to the preaching of the Gospel on the 
Sabbath, and in no other city has evangelical labor been so abun- 



REV. MR. CLARK'S LETTER. 729 

dantly blessed. Five places, in different parts of the city, have 
already been opened for public worship, and the sixth is greatly 
needed. Most of these are crowded with eager and attentive lis- 
teners to the truth, and often many go away for want of room. 
These places of meeting are obtained with great difficulty, owing to 
the opposition of the priests, and when obtained it is necessary to 
convert four or five rooms into one by partially removing the inter- 
vening walls. In consequence of this they are, after all, quite incon- 
venient, many not being able to see the speaker, or understand well 
his words. On account of these places being so humble and plain, 
many of the higher classes are deterred from coming ; yet the preach- 
ing of the Word is attended with great power, and its influence 
widely felt through the city. 

"The preachers are not men distinguished for learning, or power 
of eloquence, but they are men who have felt the power of the truth 
in their hearts, and hence can preach to the hearts of others. But 
on account of the increasing eagerness on the part of the people of 
this city to hear the truth, the work of these preachers has become 
exceedingly onerous. Three or four times on the Sabbath, and 
nearly every evening during the week they are required to give in- 
struction to the people. A work so arduous they can not long per- 
form, and already one of the most popular native preachers is begin- 
ning seriously to fail in health. The instrumentality here in the 
work of evangelization is wholly inadequate to the work to be per- 
formed. If multiplied tenfold it would hardly be sufficient to meet 
the demand. But feeble as it is, we are continually astonished at the 
results which follow. The light is spreading from this center into all 
the densely populated region around. The cities and towns on the 
east and west, on the north and south, are all receiving the truth, 
and asking for evangelical teachers. Every-where the preacher finds 
those who gladly listen to his words. If there were men to go forth 
in great numbers preaching Christ it would seem all Italy might easily 
be reformed and led to embrace the religion of the Gospel. And 
here is the great want: Christians abroad must help create here in 
Italy a native agency ; raise up and qualify a host of young men and 
women, who will become the evangelizers of the country. Nothing 
to my mind is more evident than the fact that the duty of the Chris- 
tian Church in America and England lies here; that is, in applying 
her power, aid, sympathy, and prayers to accomplish this work. It 
can be done. The material is here that can be worked into an 
agency that will overthrow superstition and set up the kingdom of 



730 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Christ through the whole extent of this beautiful land. May the 
Church awake to her mission in Italy and nobly perform it." 

In the early part of 1864 Rev. Theodore Meyer, a Protestant 
minister, residing at Ancona, had a novel and interesting experience 
in a monastery. The superior of one of these institutions had ex- 
pressed to a friend of Mr. Meyer his desire to see an evangelical 
preacher. Knowing that Mr. Meyer was about to visit the southern 
part of Italy, this friend informed the superior when the evangelist 
would reach the depot nearest the monastery. The monk was there 
with a donkey to convey the visitor to the building, which was 
two hours distant among the mountains. He entreated Mr. Meyer 
to go with him, declaring that for years he had prayed the Lord to 
bring him in connection with a Gospel minister. The evangelist 
consented, and spent two da}'S there, preaching the first evening 
from a window to some members of the monastery, and a company of 
laymen from the neigborhood, who hearing of his arrival had come 
to serenade him with music. His text was John viii, 32, "If the 
Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." The 
sentiment of this text, illustrated and enforced, struck the right 
chord. The people cried, "Long live the Gospel! " and the superior 
clasped the preacher in his arms, while tears of joy streamed down 
his cheeks. 

To the regret of Mr. Meyer, the people went to the house of the 
principal priest in the district, and cried not only, "Long live the Gos- 
pel!" but added, "Down with the pope — down with superstition!" 
On account of this demonstration, the evangelist declined a serenade 
which they wished to give the second night. During his visit he 
was almost constantly engaged in conversation with those who desired 
to know more about the Gospel of Christ, and especially with the 
superior, who dated his conversion from that time. The latter, after 
the arrival of Mr. Meyer at his home, addressed him the following 
letter. 

" Dearest Brother in Jesus Christ — many, many thanks to you that 
you have been so kind to honor this monastery with your presence, 
and have thus become as it were, the first apostle into these regions. 
Not many days will elapse, and the people of AbruzzI, freed from their 
superstitions, will publicly confess Jesus in the light of the Gospel ; 
and then your name will be blessed by the people, and your memory 
dear to them like that of Paul. ... I hate and abominate the 
abject falshoods of the Church of Rome, which are an insult to human 
reason and an offense to God. I have always shuddered in my 



THE SUPERIORS LETTER. 73 1 

heart on account of these impostures ; I have always made conscious 
of them my students, and spoke of them to all those persons of 
education with whom I came into contact. I have done so amidst 
unspeakable persecutions. But now I have got faith publicly to 
confess Jesus and his infallible doctrine, and neither hunger, nor 
nakedness, nor thirst, nor sword, nor life, nor death shall separate 
me from the evangelical Church, in which is Jesus our only Savior. 
What do I care about the persecutions which the Roman priests are 
preparing and raising against me? They have already conspired 
against me, and think of burning me alive, solely because I have 
received you, who are a minister of our Jesus, who is humble, and 
meek, and lowly in heart. Not wishing to grieve you, I will not 
speak of the terrible vexations which I have to suffer. 

"Besides other cruelties, they have now ordered me to leave the 
monastery. Yes, I shall leave it, and shall walk, begging from 
door to door, till our gracious Lord brings me into your arms, being 
sure that the same Lord who made you the means of my conversion 
will also indicate to }'ou some way in which I may gain a livelihood. 
I see very well that I have lost my social position and all the advan- 
tages flowing from it. But what matters it? I have instead found 
Christ and his precious faith, which are much better than all the 
treasures of the world. Without regret, yea, full of spiritual joy, I 
shall leave the monastery, not taking any thing with me but the pov- 
erty of the cross. The providence which clothes the lilies and pro- 
vides food for the birds will take care of me also ! Poor and lonely, 
but full of faith and with Jesus in my heart, I shall come to you. The 
Lord, who has used you as the instrument for my conversion to the 
holy law of the Gospel, will also through }'ou open up to me some 
way for gaining a livelihood. Meanwhile I close, thanking the Lord 
Jesus Christ for the grace he has shown to me in revealing himself 
to me in his Gospel, and enabling me to confess him publicly. I 
am sure that by my example many will be induced to join the evan- 
gelical Church. There are here many seeds promising abundant 
fruit. ... I shall stay here a few days more and then I shall 
at once come to you. You need not write to me, as your letters will 
not find me. All your brethren here greet you especially." 

Rev. E. E. Hall, of Florence, in a letter written on the i$th of 
January, 1864, referred to the death of Mr. T. Meek, a young man, 
\\\\o attended lectures at the Theological Seminary in that city, and 
who, though not permitted to preach the Gospel himself, exerted a 
great influence on one who expected soon to enter the field as a 



732 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

minister of Christ. He recognized Mr. Meek as instrumental in 
awakening that love of truth in his heart which is so necessary in 
one called to preach the Gospel. Hence it could be said of the 
}'oung man, that being dead he }^et speaketh. 

Mr. Hall received encouraging accounts from the various laborers 
emplo}'ed by the ** American and Foreign Christian Union," stating 
that God's blessing attended the efforts made to give the light and 
knowledge of salvation to those who sit in darkness and in the 
region and shadow of death. The refusal of a monk publicly to 
discuss some religious questions with one of the colporteurs directed 
the attention of many persons to the Bible, and almost everyday 
some one requested instruction. Many expressed surprise that a 
simple colporteur and Bible reader should have such a knowledge of 
the Word of God as to be prepared for a discussion with a monk, 
who was learned in Roman theology. The humble servant of Christ 
informed them that the wisdom of God — not human wisdom — con- 
quers error, and that the Lord can use weak instrumentalities to 
beat down the strongholds of Satan. 

Another colporteur had an interesting conversation with a Roman 
Catholic priest, who was convinced of the errors of the Church of 
Rome and of the infallible truths of the Gospel, but, while he hoped 
that the people of Italy would soon awake to the necessity of a 
reformation, he hesitated, perhaps on account of age and poverty, 
openly to embrace the Protestant cause. In a certain family the 
husband obeyed the teachings of the priests, but the wife was 
inclined to be a Protestant. This disagreement threatened to pro- 
duce a final separation, but the husband, having been induced to 
attend the meetings of the colporteur, was soon converted, and 
immediately all" discord disappeared from his household, in which the 
peace of the Lord subsequently reigned. The minister at Como 
reported that the meetings there were well attended, and that the 
audience was generally composed of workmen, who in the stations of 
evangelization are the first to be reached by the truth. In their hum- 
ble, and often difficult, position they deeply feel the need of spiritual 
consolations, which the Gospel alone can give. Hence at Como they 
opened their hearts to the Word which imparts strength for the trials 
of life. Meetings were held regularly on Sunday, Monday, Tues- 
day, and Wednesday evenings. On Thursday the evangelist visited 
Argagno, a little village some hours from Como, where about twenty 
Protestants assembled for worship, some from neighboring places 
often uniting with them. Returning to Como, the evangelist held 



THE SCHOOL A T MILAN. 733 

a meeting on Friday evening, and on Saturday evening he gave a 
familiar exposition of the Bible, interspersed with sacred music, to a 
class of thirty or forty young people. This programme indicates 
how earnestly the work of evangelization was prosecuted in Italy at 
that time. 

Mr. Clark, writing on the ist of February, refers to the girls' 
school in Milan, which was connected with the *'Free Italian Church," 
and had been under the care of Mrs. De Sanctis, of Genoa. This lady 
addressed a letter to Mr. Clark, stating that the school depended en- 
tirely upon voluntary contributions, and that, in view of the great 
inconvenience which attended this irregular mode of support, she was 
anxious to have it placed upon a more certain and permanent basis. 
She earnestly requested Mr. Clark to make better provision for it, 
and he urged the mission committee at New York to become respon- 
sible for its support, inasmuch as the " American and Foreign Christian 
Union" desired to commence the work of female education in North- 
ern Italy. He declared that female Christian teachers were greatly 
needed there, and that while the one then in charge was faithful and 
efficient, yet an American lady of energy and piety would make the 
school a real evangelizing agency by training the Italian females to 
become teachers. Mr. Clark also stated that among the causes which 
had operated against it were the want of constant superintendence, as 
Mrs. De Sanctis resided in Genoa, its connection with the boys' school, 
and its unfavorable location ; but he expressed the belief that with 
liberal aid ' and good supervision it could be made larger and of a 
higher grade. He estimated the cost for the first year, to secure the 
necessary changes, pay the teacher, rent the room, and provide for 
contingencies, at the small sum of two hundred and fifty dollars. 

In urging the committee to accept the school, Mr. Clark prom- 
ised to obtain aid from various individuals in Milan, and mentioned 
the important consideration that such a course would give the society 
a great advantage in that city. The field was comparatively unoccu- 
pied, but would not remain thus very long, because its promising 
character would attract other agencies, and these might not har- 
monize with those already at work. He deprecated the introduction 
of new sectarian movements, which would produce jealousies and di- 
visions, but advocated "a working agency energetically sustained by 
Christians abroad." While conceding that important assistance had 
been rendered by various societies and individual Christians, yet he 
asserted that no one society or association had taken hold of the 
work in Italy as vigorously as the case demanded. After stating that 



734 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

no more inviting field than Lombardy could be offered to the Chris- 
tians of America through the "American and Foreign Christian 
Union," Mr. Clark said: "If the Christians in America will now 
come forward to aid the Waldensian and Free Evangelical agencies, 
now so well at work, a greater blessing than can be told will be con- 
ferred upon this land. . . . These two agencies are sufficient in 
number, and any new foreign sectarian instrumentality introduced 
would be most unfortunate. Then let all the sympathy and aid pos- 
sible be given to these two, and it is just now they greatly need all 
that can be given. The work of evangelization they have before 
them is immense, and they loudly call for help." 

In March, 1864, a favorable report was received from Sienna. 
After months of prudent preliminary labor, a place of religious wor- 
ship had been recently opened in that city under the direction of 
Rev. W. G. Moorehead, who had charge of that field. Two faithful 
men, Signor De del Bono, an evangelist, and his companion, a col- 
porteur, for more than two months visited the people to become 
acquainted with them, and to win their confidence. This personal 
effort proved a most important preparation for the more public 
preaching of the Gospel. At length, after many discouragements, a 
suitable room for public services was secured, and those who, by 
means of private conversations had become interested in the Gospel, 
were ready for a more open manifestation of their interest, and at 
once connected themselves with the assemblies for religious worship. 
From the beginning the place of meeting was filled to its utmost ca- 
pacity, and if a room capable of holding a thousand persons could 
have been obtained it would undoubtedly have been filled. While 
the opening of evangelical meetings attracts a variety of characters, 
many of whom cease to attend when their curiosity has been satisfied, 
yet the interest at Sienna continued to increase. The w^ork was com- 
menced with prayer, and a weekly prayer-meeting was maintained 
with special reference to the success of the Gospel in that city. 

Sienna is somewhat celebrated for its university and high-schools. 
Its inhabitants, being generally intelligent and more thoroughly re- 
ligious than those in other parts of Tuscany, w^ere more likely to 
remain steadfast in the faith of the Gospel after embracing it. The 
priests and some others were deeply excited on account of the evan- 
gelical services. Some threatening messages were sent to those in 
charge, but they did not anticipate any serious interference, because 
the laws protected them. The government allowed a large degree 
of religious liberty ; so that the bloody violence of other ages and the 



CASALE AND LIVORNO. ^i^ 

prisons of the late grand duke were no more to be feared. More 
than three hundred and twenty years had passed away since Ochino 
preached at Sienna, and became the instrument in the conversion of 
many souls. Paleario, another eloquent preacher, and one of the 
most eminent of the Italian reformers, proclaimed the doctrine of jus- 
tification by faith in the same city with great success. Having pub- 
lislied at Venice, A. D. 1543, his book on the "Benefits of the 
Death of Christ," he was accused of heresy, and compelled to leave 
Sienna. But these old methods of opposing the progress of the 
Gospel were not tolerated by Victor Emmanuel, who maintained sub- 
stantial freedom of thought and speech in Italy. As former efforts 
to establish an evangelical service in Sienna had been unsuccessful, 
the aspect of things in the Spring of 1864 was highly encouraging. 
During four months the efficient and faithful colporteur sold a large 
number of Bibles, Testaments, and religious books, though there had 
been other colporteurs there more or less of the time for three years. 
The evangelist at Casale informed Mr. Hall that he was still 
laboring to revive the work which had been abandoned two years 
previous. A small number had remained faithful, and continued to 
meet for reading the Scriptures and mutual edification. By the 
efforts of the evangelist the number was gradually increasing, and 
there were indications that a prosperous and permanent mission could 
be established in that city. The evangelist was encouraged by invi- 
tations to preach the Gospel in two neighboring places. There were 
some persons in Vercelli who had been reading the Bible, and de- 
sired a Protestant minister to instruct them. At Livorno there was 
a Christian brother, around whom ten or twelve persons had gathered 
to receiv^e the bread of life. The evangelist resolved to visit both 
places every week, and also continue his work at Casale. In the 
valley of Aosta meetings were held in four or five places, and the 
regular laborer there preached to about sixty persons, besides super- 
intending a school of twelve children. The field was a difficult one 
to cultivate, but many professed to be greatly benefited by the serv- 
ices. The report of religious progress in the island of Elba was 
gratifying. The Church, consisting of three stations, had an increase 
during the preceding year of forty-nine members and twenty catechu- 
mens ; and the schools were attended by fifty-four children, who 
also received instruction on Sabbath mornings. The minister per- 
formed two marriages, baptized six infants, and attended two funeral 
services. He reported that the temple at Rio, which was com- 
menced in May, 1863, would soon be opened, and also that he had 



Jie ITALY STRUGGLING LNTO LIGHT 

secured two cemeteries, one at Longone and the other at Rio. The 
capacity and simpHcity of the new place of worship at Portoferraio 
were favorably mentioned, and the Christian benevolence of the con- 
gregation highly commended. After subscribing more than twelve 
hundred francs for their temple, the people contributed largely and 
cheerfully to the expenses of worship, to the relief of the poor, and 
to the expense of printing some tracts in defense of the truth. The 
children also made an offering of their little savings, amounting to 
thirteen francs, and desired it to be used by Mr. Revel at Florence 
for the Sabbath-school paper and for Italian evangelization. 

On the 30th of April Mr. Hall received some additional facts 
from the island of Elba, indicating still more significantly the pros- 
perous condition of the mission there. New faces were visible in the 
new temple every Sabbath, and the meetings on Thursday evening 
particularly -were well attended, many women, under one pretext or 
another, escaping from their houses and coming with their heads cov- 
ered to hear the Word of God, and to sing his praises. In connec- 
tion with this Church at Rio Marina there was a Sabbath-school of 
thirty children and a day-school of thirty-four. After repeated appli- 
cations to the authorities, and after renewed promises by them to 
arrange a cemetery for the Protestants, the latter resolved to construct 
it themselves, looking to the municipality for the small pecuniary aid 
promised. The members of the Church and generous friends, for- 
getting the sacrifices they had made for their house of worship, at 
once subscribed more than three hundred francs for the cemetery. 
The loth of April was an interesting day in the new church at Por- 
toferraio. Six persons, four women and two men, were received as 
members, and there were thirty communicants at the celebration of 
the Lord's-supper. The place of worship was crowded with friends 
who manifested a deep interest in the services. The school formerly 
had twenty-two children, lost some through the intrigues of the 
priests, but, having an excellent, zealous Christian teacher, it was 
destined to prosper. At Campo, a new missionar}^ locality, some 
earnest friends of the truth had been found, and many religious books 
distributed among the people. The inhabitants of Longone were 
rejoicing in the establishment of an evangelical school among them, 
and the civil authorities had also nearly completed a cemetery for the 
non-Catholic population. 

In the early part of April a petition was sent from Grosse to Mr. 
Hall at Florence, asking for an evangelical pastor. It was signed by 
fifty-two persons, among whom were many proprietors and men of 



GROSSETO, COMOy AOSTA. 737 

influence, and one of the parish priests favored and approved the 
movement. The petitioners declared that the preaching of the 
Gospel by a Protestant minister would be a blessing to them and to 
their community. In response to this call a laborer was sent, a 
place of worship rented, and regular religious services established. 
The people appeared to be well-disposed, and there were no indica- 
tions of serious opposition or persecution. The inhabitants also ex- 
pressed a desire to have a school organized there. Grosseto is near 
the Mediterranean Sea, on the railroad between Leghorn and Civita 
Vecchia, and had at that time a population of three or four thou- 
saivd. From Como good reports continued to be received. The 
influence of the mission was felt in the neighboring villages. In spite 
of many discouraging obstacles, the meetings in Como were attended 
by from sixty to one hundred persons, and often the place of wor- 
ship would not accommodate the audience. "We can only express 
our gratitude," said the minister in charge, *'for the many reasons 
we have for encouragement, both here and in the Valley of Intelvi, 
where the two congregations of Argegno and San Fedele are increas- 
ing, and developing an earnest Christian spirit. We count among 
our friends in this valley, besides a number of employes of the gov- 
ernment, the syndic of Dizzasio, who exerts a very good influence 
in that region. I hope we may soon establish a congregation in this 
village, and for this purpose I go there every week." Even from 
the Valle}- of Aosta the intelligence was cheering. On the first Sab- 
bath of April the members from different localities assembled to- 
gether for the celebration of the Lord's-supper — about twenty at 
Carema and thirty at Baia. A meeting held at Bourg by the evan- 
gelist was attended by over twenty-five persons. 



738 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 



Chapter XXV. 

KVANGEIJCAL WORK IN ITALY, 

IN a letter of the 24th of January, 1865, Mr. Clark, of Milan, 
reported that the people of Sondrio, in the Valtellina, desired 
the appointment of an evangelist and the opening of a chapel in that 
city. The Valtellina is one of the richest and most charming valleys 
in Europe, situated at the foot of the Alps, in Northern Italy, and 
leading from the Lake Como to the Tyrol. It almost unites the 
products of Sicily with those of the North, combining the severe 
beauties of the Alps with the mild sky of Italy. The snowy Bernina 
separates it from the Swiss Engadina on the north, and in its varied 
climate are found the chestnut, the almond, the fig, olive, and mul- 
berry ; and the Valtellina grapes in ancient times were so sweet that 
it is recorded that the Emperor Augustus had them brought to 
Rome for his table. The people of this lovely valley, always noted 
for their intelligence, at an early period manifested a remarkable in- 
terest in the Gospel. Indee(5, during the persecutions of the Italian 
Protestants in the sixteenth century many from the central and the 
southern parts of the Peninsula sought refuge in the Valtellina ; and 
afterwards, A. D. 1620, scores of families — men, women, and chil- 
dren — were massacred for their attachment to a pure Christianity. 
"Carlo Borromeo, the saint," said Mr. Clark, "who now lies a hid- 
eous corpse in a crystal coffin in the vault of the beautiful cathedral 
at Milan, was the chief cause of this butchery. Sondrio is the largest 
city of this charming valley ; and here are found many families who 
are continually entreating our colporteur to urge me to come to their 
help, and they have waited so long their last message was: 'Are 
we forgotten? are we abandoned? We have called so long, and no 
help has come; we are almost discouraged.'" 

After referring to this state of painful suspense in many parts of 
Northern Italy, Mr. Clark declared that a great increase of effort and 
expenditure was absolutely demanded to furnish evangelists and open 
places of worship. He also expressed the opinion that the colpor- 
teur must give place to a stronger and more permanent agency, and 




CATHEDRAL AT MILAN. 



740 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

that if twelve or fifteen thousand dollars could be expended in the 
next twelve months untold blessings would be conferred upon Italy 
for generations to come. An intelligent Italian professor said to 
him: "If America and England would give Italy their religion, and 
make her a living nation in Europe, it must be done and it can be 
done now; and if not done a dark and fearful conflict is before us. 
All moral and religious elements in society are to be terribly shaken, 
if not altogether swept away, by infidelity. We beseech you, give 
Italy the Gospel immediately." Other intelligent and serious-minded 
Italians stated that the people were being forced by the pope and his 
encyclicals to despise and reject the papacy, and that if a true spirit- 
ual faith was not soon given them they would reject all religion. 

The efforts of the colporteurs to circulate the Bible and other 
religious books were generally successful, though in Lugano and 
Belinzona, towns in Canton Tessin, severe opposition was encoun- 
tered. At the time of the great annual fair, which continued for 
many days, and alwa}-s brought together a great crowd of people 
from the country around, an evangelist and his brother, a colporteur, 
placed their Bibles and tracts upon a table in the public square of 
Lugano, in common with all other articles exposed for sale. So 
many Bibles and religious books, however, were bought by the 
people that the priests became enraged, and day after day besieged 
the authorities, demanding that the sale of such pernicious books 
should be stopped. At first their protests were in vain ; but finally, 
by bribes and entreaties, they persuaded two members of the mu- 
nicipality to send an order of prohibition. The evangelist and col- 
porteur quietly removed their table, protesting, however, and appeal- 
ing at once to the grand council of state, then in session. Two of 
the principal lawyers of the city volunteered to present and, if nec- 
essary, advocate their cause. The trial at once occurred, and resulted 
in the censure of the two members of the municipality, who gave no 
other reason for their prohibitory order than that the priests opposed 
the sale of the books because they were injurious to their Church. 
The evangelist said to the council that he was ever ready to yield to 
the laws, but not to the priests. After an examination, which excited 
great public interest, the governor of the council not only gave the 
evangelist and colporteur liberty to sell during the fair, as before, 
but publicly ordered the police to protect them. He also took 
occasion to issue by his secretary a public order, causing it to be 
published in the principal journal of the city, granting permission to 
these Protestant laborers to sell their books freely in every part of 



THE MISSION IN CARRARA. 



741 



the canton. The evangelist was cordially welcomed in Lugano, even 
by many families of influence, among which he did an excellent 
work. Not having a hall for public services, he visited the people 
in the city and in the region around, holding private meetings as 
opportunity offered. 

The colporteur had almost precisely the same experience in Be- 
linzona as he had in Lugano. A table was hired from the cafe, and 
placed in the public square of the town. The priests informed the 
vice-mayor that Bibles were displayed on the table, and he immedi- 
ately sent the police to prohibit their sale. The colporteur resisted, 
declaring that he had the law on his side. A crowd assembled, and 
soon became tumultuous, half being in his favor and half against 
him. The vice-mayor also appeared, with three large, fat priests as 
his body-guard, and was greatly enraged that his orders had not been 
obeyed. The colporteur in the mean time, however, had appealed 
to the ma}'or, whom he knew to be friendly, and the latter sent an 
order not only permitting him to sell as long as he pleased, but also 
that he should be protected in so doing. The vice-mayor, who was a 
mere tool of the priests, was exceedingly angry, and at once began 
to denounce the colporteur in vile and abusive language. While 
thus doing he turned suddenly to leave, but, making a wrong step, 
he fell with his face violently striking the pavement. His nose was 
broken, and when he rose his face was covered with blood. Thus 
rebuked, he and the priests left the field, humbled and vanquished. 

On the 23d of January, 1865, Rev. W. G. Moorehead wrote that 
his little Church at Carrara was in a flourishing condition, the meet- 
ings being well attended, and composed of some Roman Catholics 
and *' indifferents," besides those who were interested in evangelical 
religion. A small Sabbath-school had been organized three weeks 
previous, and was held in a side room of the chapel. On the first 
Sabbath nine children and two men were present ; on the second, 
fifteen children and four men ; and on the third, nineteen children 
and eight men. Mr. Moorehead had charge of the school, and his 
wife, though she had been in Italy only six weeks, and had but a 
limited knowledge of the language, assisted in the instruction of an 
interesting class of poor, ragged, ignorant children, who could not 
read. The scholars were annoyed by urchins of their own age, who, 
no doubt sent by the priests for that special purpose, laughed and 
hooted at thern, often gathering around the door of the school- 
room and shouting, " Protestanti scomunicati " ^excommunicated 
Protestants), etc. The Italians are exceedingly sensitive of the name 



742 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Protestant; and on this account do not call themselves by that name, 
but always by the appellation of " Evangelici." They have been 
educated from infancy to regard the name Protestant as synonymous 
with Satan. Hence some of the children keenly felt the taunts of 
their bigoted companions, but did not leave. 

Mr. Moorehead also held evangelical meetings at Torano, a small 
village near Carrara ; and on Wednesday evenings and Sabbath after- 
noons the room was crowded with a deeply interested audience, 
sometimes every nook and corner being filled to overflowing, and 
many standing closely around the little stand erected for the speaker. 
The people manifested their anxiety to hear the truth by hiring the 
room themselves, and fitting it up at their own expense with seats 
and lights, a very unusual circumstance in the work of evangelization 
in Italy. Another encouraging feature of the mission was the pres- 
ence of many women at the meetings, who listened to the preaching 
of the Gospel with wonderful interest. Generally speaking, the 
women are the last, except the priests, whom evangelical truth 
reaches in Italy; but in Torano nearly one -third of the audience 
Avere women. The people there asked for schools, daily and Sab- 
bath, for the organization of a Church, and for the circulation of 
Bibles and other religious literature. ]\Ir. Moorehead, after speaking 
of his encouragements, closed his letter by saying: "May the Lord, 
who hath in his mysterious providence led us to this place, bless 
and multiply more and more his own work. We ask your prayers, 
for ourselves, for our brother and fellow-laborer, Signor Perazzi, and 
for our work." 

In the Summer of 1865 the evangelist at Como, in his report to 
the "American and Foreign Christian Union," stated that eighty 
persons composed the congregation, of whom forty-seven were com- 
municants. Ten children attended the da}'-school, thirt}' the evening, 
and all were members of the Sabbath-school. This important agency 
strengthened and established the work of evangelization by instruct- 
ing the young in the knowledge of the Gospel, and thus preparing 
them to become at some future day faithful witnesses for the truth. 
In the Val d ' Intelvi there were between fifty and sixty who called 
themselves evangelical, and twenty-eight of these were communicants. 
At St. Fedele the Sabbath -school had fifteen scholars; but these 
statistics do not truly indicate the real strength of evangelical religion 
at that time. The Divine Word had penetrated the hearts of multi- 
tudes ; and the good seed, under the quickening influence of the 
Holy Spirit, was growing, though not many persons openly identified 



IMPOR TANT MISSION FIELD. 743 

themselves with the Protestant movement. Besides the evangehst 
of the "American and Foreign Christian Union," the Geneva Com- 
mittee also sustained an evangelist and a colporteur in Como, who 
not only conducted the regular services of preaching to a congrega- 
tion of one hundred and forty persons in the city, but also visited 
several towns and villages near the lake, where many were inclined 
to accept the Gospel and follow its simple teachings. Thus, after 
two years of more or less regular evangelistic effort, the two congre- 
gations in Como had made substantial progress. 

In all that region around the lake, as well as in most parts of 
Lombardy, the common people gladly received the Gospel, and 
there appeared to be less indifference and skepticism in that portion 
of Italy than in Florence and elsewhere in Tuscany. The selfishness 
of the priests, and the worldliness and unbelief of the l^ity caused 
some of the more intelligent and moral of the community to 
renounce the Roman Catholic Church. An incident published in 
a political journal issued in March, 1865, indicates the prevailing 
spirit of the priesthood. A woman in Cagliari, the mother of two 
little children, poor and dependent on charity for the necessaries of 
life, was called upon to mourn the death of one of her boys after a 
short illness. She sent for the parish priest to bury him, but this 
so-called Christian minister absolutely refused to do so unless the 
poor mother should first give him a dollar and a half She told him 
that it was impossible for her to pay this amount, and entreated 
him to bury her dead child. He would not do it, and she was com- 
pelled to solicit from friends and strangers, in small contributions, 
the amount demanded. After receiving it, the priest performed the 
usual funeral rites. A few days subsequently the other child died, 
and the mother went again to the priest beseeching him to conduct 
the customary service, saying that she was not able to give him 
the regular fee. "If you do not pay me," he exclaimed, "I will 
not bury your son." She begged him for pity's sake to grant her 
request, and, in reply to his demand for money, said: "Oh, sir, I 
can not; I have but one dollar, which alone remains to save me from 
starving, is not that enough for you? Is not one dollar enough? do 
you demand more of me ? To her continual pleading and weeping, 
he said at last, "Bring me the dollar; as you are so poor, I will 
bury your child for one dollar." The editor of the paper, in com- 
menting on this incident, remarked : * * We could wish not to believe 
this fact ; and for the honor of human nature we wish it had not 
occurred. O priests! why do you pretend to preach the Gospel? 



744 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

why do you pretend to teach charity? You are unworthy of the 
name of priests, which you usurp. You are hars and h}'pocrites; 
you are the shame and disgrace of humanity." 

Considerable excitement was produced in the cities and towns of 
Italy by the visits of an eccentric priest, Don Ambrogio, who exer- 
cised the functions of a preacher and colporteur at one and the same 
time. This extraordinary man continued to preach and suffer impris- 
onment by turns. He moved about from place to place, and 
harangued the multitude, who flocked around him, drawn by his 
eloquence, from market places and from the steps of cathedrals and 
churches. In Milan he preached to the people from the door 
of the cathedral and intended to leave the city. A rumor was, 
however, circulated that he would speak again. A great crowd 
collected, and he was entreated to deliver an address, though unpre- 
pared. While he was speaking, the roar of cannon at a distant 
review was heard, and he could not refrain from uttering a word 
or two about liberating Rome. He was immediately arrested and 
imprisoned. At Ivrea the people were so charmed that they lifted 
him on their shoulders and set him down in the pulpit of the parish 
church, from whence, at their earnest solicitation, he preached a 
thrilling discourse. The priests sued for fifteen hundred francs and 
a long imprisonment, but the court granted only fifty francs and 
three days of confinement. The priests appealed. The higher court 
reversed the sentence, and they not only lost the small sum, but 
had all the costs to pay. At Varsena, on St. Bartholomew's day, he 
entered the church, and placed himself opposite the priest, who 
through fear, dared not go on with his tirade against Protestantism. 
Ambrogio then invited the congregation outside, and preached to 
to them from the parapet of the church. 

The colporteurs that every-where followed him made large sales, 
as he called upon every one to read and study the Bible. The 
priests dreaded him, for he constantly cried out, ''Don't give your 
money to the priests, but to the poor, for Christ, by his death, has 
brought us the pardon of our sins." The writings of Ambrogio 
were numerous, and had an extensive circulation. One of these 
half-penny fly-sheets had a drawing of himself, or of the Free Italian 
Church, represented by a female with the Bible in one hand, and 
the cross in the other, at the top of the page. One series was 
entitled "Plagues of Italy" — the first mentioned being the pope- 
king — the second, the monks and nuns, the celibacy of the priests — 
the fourth, the retrograde upper clergy. Another series con- 



GA VAZZI IN MILAN, 



745 



sisted of hand-bill dialogues between a priest of the Italian Church 
and a priest of the Papal Church. Then followed in order the 
headings, " 1 60, 000 Priests too INIany, " ''The Brigand Priests," 
"Purgatory, Confession, etc." Each one closed with an appropriate 
prayer, and so large was the sale of these series that the citizens 
could be seen reading them as they walked along the streets. While 
these documents attacked in a fearless manner the errors of popery, 
they did not in the least countenance skepticism, but were sound in 
their reference to the Bible as the only rule of faith, and the Lord 
Jesus Christ as the only Head of the Church, and his atoning sacri- 
fice as the only ground of hope for sinners. The aged father of 
Ambrogio, with the promise of great reward, was sent to bring him 
back to Romanism. He stood the test, but acknowledged that it was 
the severest ordeal through which he had ever passed. 

In May, 1865, Gavazzi visited ]\Iilan, and preached every evening 
to very large audiences, multitudes being unable to gain admission 
to the hall. He de- 
livered two sermons ^M^'^ 
on the Bible, one 
showing that it alone 
revealed the way of 
salvation, the other, 
that while it was the 
oldest book in the 
world, it contained 
no principles op- 
posed to modern 
science, but in ex- 
act accordance with 
it. This eloquent 
advocate of the truth 
also addressed a 
lengthy letter to Dr. 
De Sanctis on the 
subject of a union of 
the Churches, deeply 
regretting the divisions existing among the Christians of Italy. He 
expressed the opinion that the cause of these unhappy strifes could 
not be found among the Italians themselves, but among the foreign 
agencies that had been introduced into the country. All intelligent 
and religiously inclined Italians, he affirmed, had almost precisely the 




GAVAZZI. 



746 ITALY STRUGGLING LKTO LIGHT 

same views and wishes with regard to the evangehzation of their 
native land. All felt its necessity, all desired it, and nearly all enter- 
tained remarkably clear and harmonious opinions as to the manner in 
which this great work might be accomplished, but they firmly believed 
that the introduction of any foreign religious system or denomina- 
tion into Italy would retard the progress of the Gospel. 

An American clergyman, after a residence of nearly two years 
in Milan and a careful study of religious reform in Italy, communi- 
cated similar views in his letters to a friend at home. "It has been 
a great obstacle," he declared, "as well as a misfortune, in the work 
of religious reform in Italy that foreign societies and committees 
have not been satisfied with simply proclaiming the Gospel, but 
have sought in addition to bring their Church systems. This has 
given great offense to Italians and has led them to regard with sus- 
picion all foreign agencies. It is frequently asserted that the Italians 
are jealous of foreigners and of their assistance. Nothing is more 
unjust. Never have I met with a people more cordial or generous, 
or that could better appreciate assistance, or felt more grateful for it 
when received, than the Italians. They have, however, a remarkable 
love of liberty and independence, and wish to be left free to adopt 
such forms of Church organization as they may choose. 
They greatly desire and pray for assistance, and feel truly grateful 
for it ; but are strongly opposed to any attempts to force upon them 
a peculiar denominational system. They say, *we want the Gospel 
and not denominations. We ask Christians and Churches to give 
us the Gospel of Christ, but not their Church systems.' The Italians 
are exceedingly sensitive upon this point. ... If denomina- 
tions or societies will consent to be only assisting agencies to the 
Italians, bringing to them the Gospel, preaching Christ and Him 
crucified, the work of evangelization will go forward gloriously ; 
but if evangelization is secondary and ecclesiasticism primary, the 
truth will not make progress and all effort and expense will be 
in vain." 

The same writer also stated that while the Waldensian and Wes- 
leyan agencies were sustained with great liberality and zeal, yet 
unfortunately they did not throw themselves into the current of Ital- 
ian sympathy by low^ering their denominational standard before the 
standard of a common evangelism. The result was that separate 
Churches w^ere formed, called Evangelical, or Free Italian Churches. 
At first they received but little foreign assistance, and struggled on in 
the midst of poverty, opposition, and contempt, at home and abroad. 



THE FREE NATIONAL CHURCHES. 747 

Their evangelists were poorly educated, poorly supported, and with 
many little esteemed; and yet, notwithstanding all these difficulties 
and discouragements, their Churches had become in 1865 quite 
numerous, and their evangelists rapidly won the sympathy and 
esteem of the people. They were represented by their enemies at 
home and abroad as Darbyists, Plymouthists, and even Rationalists ; 
but the American clergyman, already mentioned, who was acquainted 
with every phase of religious thought in Italy, said: "Having seen 
and heard many of their principal evangelists, I know them to be truly 
sound, faithful, and godly men. They preach the Gospel, for they have 
experienced its power in their own hearts ; they eloquently preach 
Christ as the only Savior, and the people, who thirst for the waters of 
life, flock to hear them." 

These Free Italian Churches, some with and some without eVangel- 
ists, were scattered over various parts of Italy, and soon became more 
numerous than those of other organizations. After ascertaining the 
true character of their Avork, many English Christians contributed 
liberally to its support, the funds, when directed by the donors, being- 
transmitted by a committee of gentlemen in Geneva and by a similar 
one at Nice. In connection with these Churches there was, in 1865, 
a spiritual movement of wonderful power, indicating that they were 
destined to be a great instrumentality in the regeneration of Italy. 
Already, with the very little assistance they had received from 
abroad, they were in a far more prosperous condition than those of 
any other agency. In Milan alone the "Free Italian Church" had 
about eight hundred members, and among these were some twelve or 
fifteen promising young men, who greatly desired to become evangel- 
ists, but Avere too poor to educate themselves. 

Mr. Clark, of Milan, in his report of evangelical work in that city 
during the Summer of 1865 gave some strong proofs of its marked 
progress. The Roman Catholic authorities acknowledged that there 
had been a falling off in Milan of seventy thousand during the preceding 
year of those who regularly came to mass and to confession. This 
was a loss of a little more than one-fourth in a population of two hun- 
dred and seventy thousand. Another significant circumstance was the 
almost total failure of the festival of "Corpus Domini," one of the 
most solemn and magnificent of the Roman Catholic Church. At first 
the authorities were inclined to restrict the celebration of it that year 
to the brotherhood, but at length they decided that the public might 
participate. The citizens, however, almost entirely neglected it, the 
procession being composed of the clergy, some peasants from the 



748 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

country, and a few of the rabble. Nothing could better indicate the 
growth of liberal Ideas and the decay of Romanism at that time. 
Another sign of progress was the increased access of the evangelical 
agents among the Roman Catholic families. The few Bible-women 
in Milan, supported by friends in America, did a noble work among 
that class, and also those who had not openly declared themselves 
Evangelical. They were constantly Invited to visit families that they 
had never before seen, and when they entered these homes, sometimes 
they were constrained to spend the whole day in answering questions 
eagerly put to them, and in explaining the principles of the Evangel- 
ical religion. There were so many who desired to know the truth, 
and yet would not venture to the place of public meeting, that the 
Bible-women seemed indispensable to this large and interesting class. 
These faithful women were truly evangelists, who went from house to 
house preaching the Gospel, and from whose labors much pre- 
cious fruit was gathered. Many, through their instrumentality, were 
brought to Christ, and many, very many who, when taken sick, were 
bigoted Roman Catholics, gladly listened to the prayers and instruc- 
tions of these Bible-women and died rejoicing in Christ, their only 
and all-sufficient Savior. 

The number of those in the educated class In Milan who were 
favorable to reform appeared to be large, and constantly increased. 
The teachers and professors of the colleges and schools were, in 
many cases, firm and sincere friends of the truth, and expressed a 
desire to leave their emplo}'ment, and consecrate themselves directly 
to the evangelization of their country. But unfortunately this class 
of professors and teachers in Italy embraced very few who were rich. 
The great majority were poor, their compensation, whether by the 
government or municipality, being so small that often with difficulty 
could some of the best and most learned professors in Italy support 
their families, or rise above actual want. One of them said to Mr. 
Clark: *'We want pecuniary assistance from England and America 
to carry on this religious reform in Italy. We evangelists are all 
poor, yet we have talent, ability, and heart to work. Let but Eng- 
land and America enable us to work in this reform, and we will gladly 
bear the burden of faithful and successful labor. But we want 
means. We have no money with which to rent or build school- 
rooms and chapels, no money to buy our own bread while we give 
ourselves to this work ; what shall we do ? Why will not England 
and America help us?" 

Mr. Hall, of Florence, received encouraging facts from nearly all 



PREACHING IN THE VHLAGES. 749 

the colporteurs and evangelists under his supervision. One of them 
reported that he was often permitted to converse with country peojDle, 
who generally received religious instruction with pleasure, and lis- 
tened attentively to the reading of the Word of God. He endeav- 
ored to make them understand the differences between the disci- 
ples of Christ and the disciples of the pope, informing them, that 
those who put their confidence in man would perish, but that those 
who trust in God and obey his Word, should find peace on earth and 
eternal blessedness in heaven. He also declared that no power of 
the priests could deprive their hearts of the joy of believing on the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Another laborer stated that, having entered a 
house filled with people, he began to speak to them of the Church 
of Christ ; but, discovering that he was an Evangelical, some com- 
manded him to leave, and others urged him to continue his discourse. 
This difference of opinion produced great excitement, and the mis- 
sionary, fearing some serious results, proposed to offer prayer. They 
all became silent, and he caUed upon God to direct them in the light 
of the truth. When the prayer was ended, all appeared to be 
changed — there was no more opposition, and he was requested by the 
entire audience to proceed with his remarks on the subject first 
presented, or some other religious topic. He sold many tracts, 
the most of which were purchased by those who had opposed 
him. Another evangelist, who had been laboring in the neigh- 
borhood of Ivrea for three and a half years, said: "It is for 
me a subject of real joy, and a reason for encouragement to see 
that the Lord is working in the field intrusted to my care." He 
preached in a number of small villages and visited families somewhat 
isolated in the surrounding country. According to his ability and 
his opportunities he faithfully scattered the seed of truth, and perse- 
vered in his work amidst many difficulties. Li a letter to Mr. Hall 
he referred to two persons recently admitted to Christian fellowship 
and communion. One of them gave great satisfaction to the assem- 
bly by a simple, but clear, statement of his faith, and the reasons 
which at length led him to abandon the Roman Church. The other, 
also a Romanist, after a regular attendance at the meetings in Borgo- 
franco for several weeks, expressed a fixed determination to enter 
into communion with the Evangelical Church. Her decision and con- 
fession of the truth greatly encouraged the little brotherhood of 
that place. 

At Torano, a village near Carrara, which has alread}^ been men- 
tioned as a new but hopeful field, Mr. Moorehead organized a Sab- 



750 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

bath-school, consisting of twenty-four pupils, all young men, who 
seemed deeply interested in the study of the Bible. The evangelist 
stationed at Vercelli had a congregation numbering from sixty to one 
hundred persons, and of these between twenty-five and thirty publicly 
professed faith in Christ, and became members of the Church. Four 
services were held during the week. There were also three small but 
interesting congregations — distant from Vercelli, one an hour, and 
the other half an hour by the railroad. At Livorno the religious 
services were regularly attended by from fort}- to fifty persons, and 
of these fifteen united with the Church. Others were gradually 
overcoming their timidity, of whom the missionary said: **I have 
good hope, and those who really know the Lord Jesus are, in their 
sphere, true evangelists." About twenty made a piofession of their 
faith at Casale, and when the evangelist could not be present they 
held meetings for mutual edification, reading the Scriptures, exhor- 
tation, and prayer. 

The evangelical cause at INIilan was greatly strengthened by the 
efforts of Professor Oddo, a literary celebrity and a popular speaker 
of remarkable power. His lectures on the history of Italy made 
a profound impression, and the enthusiasm of his audiences was ex- 
cited to the highest degree when he discussed the differences between 
the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches. He arraigned the pa- 
pacy as the enemy of Italy, and declared that he had no faith in any 
pretended reform of that ecclesiastical s}'stem. This eloquent lec- 
turer also expressed his opinion concerning the school of atheism, 
affirming that few in Italy advocated it, and fewer still believed it, 
because the Italians are a people of religious habits, and the Italian 
philosophy itself is, in a certain sense, alwa}^s Christian. Yet skep- 
ticism, resulting from want of faith in the Romish doctrines,' pre- 
vailed, and the legitimate fruit was indifference, which Professor Oddo 
called the "true religious wound of Ital}'. " 

In 1865 the English Wesleyan missions in Italy made some prog- 
ress, notwithstanding the unfavorable condition of the country relig- 
iously. Rev. H. J. Piggott reported fifty members in Milan, sixty 
communicants, and one hundred and fifty regular hearers at Cara- 
vaggio, a new station, and the organization of day and even- 
ing schools at these points. Among the preaching places were 
Intra, Varese, Asolo, Parma, Monza, and Florence. Mr. Pig- 
gott commenced the publication of the Evangelical GatJierer, a bi- 
monthly magazine, and issued one thousand copies every two 
weeks. He also established the first regular class-meeting, and was 



POLITICAL A GITA TION. 7 5 i 

encouraged by the liberality of the members, who, though poor, 
contributed cheerfully to the support of God's cause. Several native 
converts offered their services as exhorters, and six converted priests 
applied for admission into the Protestant ministry. Rev. T. W. S. 
Jones, who preached in Naples and at the outlying stations, Salerno, 
Foggio, Barletta, Ban, Messina, and Reggio, was greatly aided in his 
work by the publication of a bi-monthly paper called Lctturc di Fainig- 
lia. The Italian press generally favored the Protestant movement, 
and the intelligent middle class of people manifested some sympathy. 

The political condition of Italy in 1865 was one of agitation, re- 
sulting from the conflict between the papacy and the government, 
which strongly developed itself in the month of January, when the 
papal encyclical of December 8, 1864, was issued. Not wishing to 
intensify the prevailing excitement, the government, on the 13th of 
February, authorized by a decree the circulation of the encyclical, its 
accompanying syllabus, and Cardinal Antonelli's circular — reserving, 
however, the rights of the state and crown, and without admitting 
the propositions contained in those documents which might be con- 
trary to the institutions and legislation of the country. The proceed- 
ings of the parliament, which was in session on the opening of the 
year, did not present many points of interest. The bill introduced 
by the government for the suppression of religious corporations was 
withdrawn ; but the ministry at the same time announced that the 
concession of the cxcqiiatiir to ecclesiastical benefices would be sus- 
pended, and that the government would soon bring in another bill 
for the reform of the religious bodies. 

On the 6th of March Pius IX addressed an autograph letter to 
Victor Emmanuel, requesting the latter's consideration of three 
points ; namely, the return of the bishops to their sees, the nomina- 
tion of other ecclesiastics to fill the vacant sees, and the admission 
of the titular ecclesiastics already appointed by the Holy See without 
the consent of the Italian government. In compliance with the 
pope's request, a layman, the Commander Xaverio Vegezzi, was 
sent to Rome, with the Cavalier Advocate Giovanni Maurizio as col- 
league, to confer upon the three points above mentioned, and to se- 
cure, if possible, an agreement. The negotiators arrived at Rome in 
April, and held several conferences with the papal government ; but 
the latter raised various difficulties, and Vegezzi and Maurizio returned 
home to obtain new instructions. They again visited the papal cap- 
ital in June, but were unsuccessful, and immediately resigned their 
mission. On the 8th of July the prime minister. La Marmora, pre- 



752 ITAL Y STRUG GLING INTO LIGHT 

sented to Victor Emmanuel the official report of the progress and 
failure of the proposed negotiations, predicting the early separation 
of Church and state. 

A ro}-al decree issued on the 7th of September dissoh^ed the 
Italian parliament, ordered new elections to take place on the 29th 
of October, and convoked the Chambers for the 15 th of November. 
The minister of the interior addressed a circular to the prefects, an- 
nouncing that shortly after the assembling of parliament the ministry 
would bring forward a measure for the suppression of religious bodies 
and the readjustment of ecclesiastical property. A notable feature 
in the electoral campaign of 1865 was the active participation of the 
"Catholic Party," who were called by their opponents "Black Party," 
"Codini, " and other names. They had generally abstained from 
voting at former elections, at least so far as the annexed countries 
were concerned. One section would not be reconciled to the exist- 
ing order of things, while the other directed their efforts to the sal- 
vation of the papacy, its remaining fragment of temporal power, and 
to the cause generally of the Church in Italy. The advanced liber- 
als, who were called "Party of Action," "Radicals," "Reds," etc., 
advocated the use of violent and immediate means for the completion 
of Italian unity and independence by the acquisition of Rome and 
Venice. This party was also divided into two elements. The ex- 
treme "Reds," the men of the " Unita Italiana," or the friends of 
Mazzini, abominated monarchy, and denied that the independence 
of Italy could be secured under the house of Savoy. While they 
abstained from voting, the other and more important section 
of the Left accepted the prevailing order of things, participated 
in the elections, and labored to secure a republic by peaceable 
means. 

The government party, or "Moderate Liberals," contained a 
number of factions, distinguished by preferences for individual lead- 
ers, Ricasoli, Rattazzi, Minghetti, had, as might be expected, special 
friends and supporters. At the election the Catholic party was de- 
feated, only about a dozen of their members being elected ; but the 
radicals were eminently successful, having chosen one hundred and 
twenty members to the new parliament, or an increase of seventy. 
Garibaldi was elected in three places, Naples, Andria, and Corleto ; 
and three of his officers, Generals Bixio and Fabrizzi and Colonel 
Cairoli, were also returned, each for three colleges. Nicotera, an- 
other of his followers, and his former dictators in Sicily, Crispi and 
Mordini, were elected for two districts each. Mazzini, notwithstand- 



THE PARLIAMENT. 753 

ing his avowed hostility to the monarchical principle, came near being 
elected in Genoa. 

The session of the new parliament was opened on the i8th of 
November by King Victor Emmanuel in person, who delivered a 
patriotic address. On the 6th of December the Chamber of Deputies 
elected Signor Marini, the candidate of the government, to the office 
of president, by one hundred and forty -one votes out of two hun- 
dred and seventy-three members voting, after two ballots between 
him and Signor Mordini, the candidate of the Left. The ministry, 
finding that they could not control, in all important questions, a ma- 
jority of the house of deputies, tendered their resignation, which was 
accepted by the king. On the 31st of December the following new 
cabinet was appointed : General Delia Marmora, president and min- 
ister for foreign affairs ; Signor Chiaves, minister of the interior ; 
Signor Scialoja, minister of finance ; Signor Defalco, minister of 
public worship and justice ; Signor Jacini, minister of public works. 
The Chamber of Deputies consisted, in 1865, of four hundred and 
forty-three members. The Italian government, upon the withdrawal 
of the first of the French troops from Rome in November, declared 
its determination not to attack the papal territory, or suffer it to be 
invaded, because France was carrying out the September convention 
in evacuating the city. 



Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 



Chapter XXVI. 

THE DEFEAT OF AUSTRIA— ITALY ANNEXES VENETIA. 

ON the nth of January, 1866, a dispatch from General La Mar- 
mora to the Austrian government declared that the re-estab- 
lishment of regular relations could not be admitted except as a 
starting-point toward the solution of the Venetian question. The 
complications between Austria and Prussia naturally led to negotia- 
tions by Italy with Prussia for the conclusion of a defensive and 
offensive alliance. On the 9th of March the Italian government gave 
to its representative in Berlin instructions to sign the alliance with 
Prussia ; and on the 29th of April General La Marmora issued a 
circular dispatch stating that, while Italy was enjoying perfect quiet 



754 ^^^ LY STR UG GLING INTO LIGHT. 

and the army was on a peace footing, Austria had nnade threatening 
armaments in Italy, and had thereby compelled the government to 
make the necessary preparations for war. On the 30th of April the 
Chamber of Deputies, by an unanimous vote, save one, authorized 
the government, until the end of July, to meet all the expenses 
which were necessary for the defense of the country by extraordinary 
means. This was supplemented on the 9th of May by another reso- 
lution authorizing the government, until the end of July, to provide 
by royal decrees for the defense and safety of the state. 

The government, besides putting the army on a regular war 
footing, authorized the enrollment of volunteers and the mobilization 
of the national guard. The volunteers were placed under the chief 
command of General Garibaldi, who in a letter written at Caprera, 
on the nth of May, 1866, accepted the appointment: "I accept 
with true gratitude the dispositions which you have taken and his 
majesty has sanctioned relative to the volunteer corps. I am thank- 
ful to you for the trust you manifest in me in giving me the command, 
and you will be good enough to express to the king my sentiments. 
I hope soon to co-operate with our glorious army in accomplishing 
the destinies of the country. I thank you for your courtesy in mak- 
ing this communication to me." 

Italy declared war against Austria on the i8th of June, 1866, and 
on the 20th Victor Emmanuel issued the following manifesto : 

"Several }^cars have already passed since Austria attacked my 
states because I had supported the common cause of the country in 
the councils of Europe. I took up the sword to defend my throne, 
the liberty of my people, the honor of the Italian name, and to fight 
for the rights of the nation. Victory was in favor of right. The 
valor of the army, the aid of the volunteers, the concord and wisdom 
of the people, and the assistance of a magnanimous ally, gained the 
almost complete independence and liberty of Italy. Supreme reasons 
we were obliged to respect prevented us at that time from accom- 
plishing that just and glorious enterprise. One of the noblest prov- 
inces of Italy, united by the desires of the population to my crown, 
and which its heroic resistance and continual protest against foreign 
dominion rendered especially dear and sacred to us, remained in the 
hands of Austria. Though sorrowful at heart, I abstained from trou- 
bling Europe, which desired peace. My government occupied itself 
with improving the work of interior organization, opening sources of 
public prosperity, and fortifying the country by land and by sea, await- 
ing a favorable opportunity to accomplish the independence of Venetia. 



THE KIKG 'S PRO CLAM A TION. 755 

"Although waiting was not without clanger, nevertheless we un- 
derstood how to keep shut within our hearts our feelings as Italians, 
and our just impatience ; and thus were preserved intact the right of 
the nation, and the dignity of the crown and of parliament, in order 
that Europe might understand what was due to Italy. Austria, sud- 
denly re-enforcing her troops upon our frontier, and provoking us by 
her hostile and threatening attitude, has come to disturb the pacific 
task of the reorganization of the kingdom. I have replied b}' again 
taking up arms, and you have afforded the world the grand sight of 
hastening with promptitude and enthusiasm into the army to enlist 
among the volunteers. Nevertheless, when friendly powers endeav- 
ored to settle the difficulties by a congress, I gave a last pledge of 
my feelings to Europe, and hastened to accept the proposal. Austria 
again refused, this time rejecting negotiations and all agreement, 
affording thus a fresh proof that if she confides in her strength she 
does not rely equally upon the goodness of her cause and of her 
right. You, also, Italians, may trust in your strength, looking with 
pride upon your valiant army and strong navy; but you may rely 
still more firmly upon the sacredness of your right, whose triumph is 
henceforth infallible. We are supported by the judgment of public 
opinion, and by the sympathy of Europe, which knows that Italy, 
independent and secure in her territory, will become a guaranty for 
peace and order. Italians, I hand over the government of the state 
to Prince Carignan, and again take up the eagles of Getta and Ma- 
rengo, of Palestro and San Martino. I feel that I shall accomplish 
the vows made at the tomb of my high-minded father. I wish once 
more to be the first soldier of Italian independence." 

The king also issued a proclamation to the national guard, say- 
ing: "I leave the regency of the kingdom to the prince of Carig- 
nan, to fight anew the final battles for the liberty and independence 
of Italy. While our forces by land and sea secure the rights of the 
nation against threats and provocations of Austria, you will keep the 
nation organized and arranged, in order that it may strengthen her 
liberties and secure respect for the laws, thus preparing itself worthy 
for the glorious future which awaits us. It is you who have consti- 
tuted the nation by your will. Preserve it intadt now by discipline 
and arms. Citizens, — I confidently intrust to you the guardianship 
of public security and order. I go Avhere the voice of Italy calls." 

At the commencement of the war, the following new Italian 
ministry, appointed on the 20th of June, was in power: Ricasoli, 
president of the ministry; Baron Bettino, interior; Emilio Visconti 

49 



756 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Venosta, foreign affairs; Francesco Borgatti, worship and justice; 
war, Sciajola ; public instruction, Domenico Berti ; public works, 
Dr. Stefano Jacini ; navy, Agostino Depretis; commerce, industry, 
and agriculture, Filippo Cordova. In August, Effusio Cujaia was 
appointed minister of finance. The Italians responded with enthu- 
siasm to Victor Emmanuel's call for troops. The army of the king 
crossed the Mincio, and on the 24th of June was defeated by the 
Austrians; but the great victory of Prussia at Sadowa, on the 3d 
of July, reduced Austria to such extremities that she was compelled 
to concentrate all her energies for the defense of her home territory. 
Unable to hold Venetia, she relinquished it to the emperor of the 
French, by whom it was to be transferred to Italy. On the 20th of 
July, the Austrian fleet inflicted a terrible defeat upon the Italian 
fleet off Lissa. The war was brought to a close by the Peace of 
Nicholsburg, on the 30th of August. In spite of her reverses, 
Italy gained the objects for which she fought, thanks to the vigor 
and success with which Prussia fought. 

In accordance with the treaty between Austria and Italy, a pop- 
ular vote took place in Venetia in October, on the question of the 
annexation of the latter province to Italy. The result showed a 
remarkable unanimity; 641,755 votes being cast in favor of and only 
69 against the proposition. On the 4th of November, the king, 
surrounded by the princes, the ministers, the dignitaries of the state, 
and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, received the Venetian 
deputation, which communicated to his majesty the result of the 
plcbiscitiini. After the ceremony the national guard, the troops and 
the various corporate bodies defiled before the king amid loud cheers 
from the assembled multitude. General Menabraea delivered a 
speech to his majesty in placing in his hands the iron crown of 
Lombardy. Upon receiving the result of the plcbiscitum from the 
Venetian deputation, King Victor Emmanuel said: **This day is 
the proudest of my life. Eighteen years ago my father proclaimed 
from this city the war of independence, and to-day you bring to 
me the manifestations of the popular will in the Venetian province, 
which, united with Italy, declare my father's wish to be accom- 
plished. You confirm by this solemn act what Venetia did up to 
1848, and has maintained up to the present day with admirable 
constancy and abnegation. I therefore pay a grateful tribute to 
those generous patriots who upheld their faith in the destinies of the 
country by every kind of sacrifice and by their blood. To-day 
foreign domination ceases forever. Italy is constituted, if not 



THE KING '5 A D DRESS. 757 

accomplished. Italians must now defend and make her great. The 
iron crown is also restored to Italy; but to that crown I prefer the 
one which is dearer to me, made by the love of my people." 

A royal decree was issued on the 5th of November declaring 
that the provinces of Venetia shall henceforth form an integral 
part of the kingdom of Italy. The government also appointed 
sixteen senators for Venetia, and ordered the election of deputies. 
On the 15th of December the Italian parliament was opened by 
the king, who delivered the following address from the throne : 

"Signers Senators, Signors Deputies, — Our country is henceforth 
free from all foreign domination. It is with profound joy that I 
declare this to the representatives of 25,000,000 Italians. The 
nation had faith in me and I in them. This great event, by 
crowning our common efforts, gives a fresh impulse to the work 
of civilization, and renders more stable the political equilibrium of 
Europe. By her promptitude in military organization, and by the 
rapid union of her people, Italy has acquired the credit which 
was necessary to enable her to attain independence by herself; and 
with the aid of efficacious alliances, Italy has found encouragement 
and support in this laborious work in the sympathy of civilized 
governments and peoples, and has been further sustained and 
strengthened by the courageous perseverance of the Venetian 
provinces in the common enterprise of national emancipation. 
The treaty of peace with the empire of Austria, which will be laid 
before you, will be followed by negotiations which will facilitate 
exchanges of prisoners between the two states. The French govern- 
,ment, faithful to the obligations which it contracted by the Sep- 
tember convention, has withdrawn its troops from Rome. On its 
side, the Italian government, observant of its engagements, has 
respected and will respect the pontifical territory. Our good under- 
standing with the French emperor, to whom w^e are bound by friend- 
ship and gratitude, the moderation of the Romans, the wisdom of 
the pontiff, and the religious sentiment and right feeling of the 
Italian people, will aid us to distinguish and conciliate the Catholic 
interests ; and national aspirations, which are interwoven and con- 
tending w^ith each other in Rome, attach us to the religion of our 
ancestors, which is also that of the great majority of Italians. 

"I nevertheless respect the principle of liberty which breathes 
through our institutions, and which, broadly and sincerely applied, 
will remove the causes of the old differences between Church and 
state. This disposition on our part, by reassuring Catholic con- 



758 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

science, will accomplish, I hope, the wishes which I form that the 
sovereign pontiff may remain independent at Rome. Italy is secure, 
now that, besides the valor of her sons, which through all the changes 
of fortune has never belied itself, either by land or sea, nor in the 
ranks of the army, or the volunteers, she possesses as the ramparts 
of her independence the very bulwarks which served to oppress her. 
Italy can, therefore, and now ought, to turn her efforts to increasing 
her prosperity. As Italians have shown admirable concord in the 
affirmation of their independence, so now let all devote themselves 
with intelligence, ardor, and indomitable constancy to the develop- 
ment of the economic resources of the Peninsula. Several bills will 
be laid before you with this object. In the midst of the labors of 
peace, favored by a secure future, we shall not neglect following the 
lessons of experience, to perfect our military organization, in order 
that, with the least possible outlay, Italy may not be destitute of 
the forces necessary to maintain her in the place which belongs to 
her among great nations. 

''The measures recently taken relative to the administration of 
the kingdom, and those which will be proposed to you, above all, 
I'especting the collection of the taxes, and the accountability of the 
state, will contribute to ameliorate the management of public affairs. 
My government has provided in advance for the expenditure of the 
year about to open, and for extraordinary payments of every kind. 
They will ask of you the continuation in 1867 of the financial meas- 
ures voted for in 1866. The legislative bodies will also maturely dis- 
cuss the bills which will be laid before them to ameliorate the assess- 
ment of the taxes, and to equalize them among the different provinces 
of the kingdom. If, as I am fully confident, the people of Italy will 
'not fail in that activity which created the wealth and power of our 
ancestors, it will not be long before the public exchequer will reach 
its definitive equilibrium. Italy is now rendered to herself. Her 
responsibility is equal to the power and the full liberty she enjoys in 
the use of her strength. The great things we have done in a short 
space of time increase our obligation not to fail in our task, which 
is to know how to govern ourselves with the vigor required by the 
social condition of the kingdom and the liberality demanded by our 
institutions. Liberty in our political institutions, authority in the 
government, activity in the citizens, and the empire of law upon all 
and over all, will carry Italy to the height of her destiny, and fulfill 
what the world expects from her." 

One of the main questions to be solved by parliament was the re- 



RICASOLFS CIRCULAR. 759 

lation of the state to the Church. The government, beheving that 
their complete separation would remove the pending difficulties, re- 
solved to propose such a measure. Before the meeting of parliament 
on the 22d of October, the prime minister, Ricasoli, addressed a cir- 
cular to the prefects permitting the return of all the bishops to their 
sees, excluding those residing in Rome. This circular was followed 
by another dated November 15 th, and likewise addressed to the pre- 
fects. The prime minister also wrote a letter to the exiled bishops 
living in Rome, in which he discussed the relations existing between 
Church and state, and the bishops replied to it. Ricasoli answered 
them on the 26th of November, directing their attention to the 
United States, where liberty is "professed and respected by all, in 
principle and in fact, in its amplest application to civil, political, and 
social life." After showing, at great length, the causes which pro- 
duced the conflict between the ecclesiastical and civil power, he asked 
how this deplorable and perilous contest could be terminated, and 
then answered the question by saying: ''Liberty can alone bring us 
to that happy state of things which your lordships consider so envi- 
able in America. Let us * render unto Caesar the things that are 
Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's,' and peace be- 
tween Church and state will be troubled no more." 

The negotiations of the Italian government with the pope for 
obtaining a recognition of the annexation of the larger portion of the 
papal dominions to Italy, and a regulation of the Church affairs in 
the kingdom, were unsuccessful. Pius IX deemed it his duty to de- 
fend the integrity of the temporal possessions of the papacy. On 
the 30th of October, 1866, in the usual consistory of the cardinals, 
he gave a solemn utterance of his views in an allocution, which was 
in perfect harmony with his "Encyclical" of December 8, 1864. 
He denounced the Italian government for banishing bishops, impris- 
oning priests, closing diocesan schools, suppressing religious corpora- 
tions, and establishing a law respecting civil marriage. The pope was 
also grieved by the departure from Rome on the 4th of December 
of one regiment of French troops in accordance with the treaty be- 
tween Italy and France. 



76o 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT, 



Seventh Decade, Continued, 1860-1870. 



Chapter XXVII. 



THE ROMAN QUESTION— PROTESTANT MISSIONS. 

IN May, 1867, the financial situation had become so critical that 
King Victor Emmanuel, in a message to parliament, gave up his 
own share of the civil list, and proposed the sale of Church lands and 
the reduction of the public expenditure. A few days afterwards 
French capitalists advanced eighty-six millions of dollars, and in 
August a bill was passed legalizing the proposed sale. These and 
similar measures, inaugurated chiefly under the Lanza cabinet, helped 
to maintain the national credit ; but the political situation consequent 
upon the presence of French troops and other foreign soldiers in Rome 

continued to be more 
and more embarrassing. 
Garibaldi resolved to in- 
vade the pontifical ter- 
ritory, on the frontiers 
of which his volun- 
teers, the **red shirts," 
gathered in September. 
While he was on his way 
to the city of Rome, 
on the 22d of the same 
month, he was arrested 
at Sinalunga. A slight 
revolution occurred, 
and the people endeav- 
ored to break open ar- 
senals, armories, etc., 
to obtain arms for the 
purpose of rescuing 
Garibaldi, but, without 
a serious riot; he was 
taken by the government authorities and conveyed to his home at 
Caprera. In the mean time his volunteers crossed the Roman fron- 




THE ROMAN QUESTION. ;6l 

tier without being checked by the Itahan government. Rattazzi, who 
had returned to office, secretly encouraged the movement, hoping to 
find in it a chance for winning Rome for Italy, without incurring the 
risk of a war with France. He managed the affair badly. 

On the 14th of October Garibaldi was allowed to escape from 
Caprera and rejoin his forces. The sympathy of the Italian govern- 
ment was so open that he hoped to be supported by the royal troops. 
This open sympathy, however, had induced the Emperor Napoleon 
to inform the Italian government that he should regard any further 
action against the papal dominions as a declaration of war against 
France. The previous correspondence between the two powers 
concerning the Roman question is exhibited in the official "Green- 
book," which was distributed to the Italian Chamber of Deputies on 
the loth of December, 1867. It contains twenty-seven documents 
exchanged between the governments, from the 2d of June, 1865, to 
the 7th of September, 1867; while the documents relating to the 
Roman question are sixty-six in number, their dates running from 
the 20th of December, 1866, to the 3d of December, 1867. In this 
collection is a dispatch dated the 8th of August, 1867, from the 
Italian charge-d'affaires at Paris, communicating to his government a 
declaration of the French minister for foreign affairs that the Antibes 
Legion (the French volunteers in Rome) was independent of any 
foreign influence or control. Not only did the French government 
recognize this principle, but it was determined to conform thereto. 
With regard to the mission of General Dumont to Rome, who was 
reported to have addressed the Antibes Legion as forming a part of 
the French army, the French minister said: "I do not disavow, but 
deny it." In a note of the 2d of September the French government 
stated that the emperor, while reserving to himself the right of 
authorizing French officers to serve in the papal army, as in other 
foreign armies, intended that thenceforth the Antibes Legion should 
contain none but soldiers free from all obligations towards France. 
A telegram from the Italian government of the 5th of September 
expressed pleasure that every difficulty was removed that might dis- 
turb good relations between the two countries. 

The communications relative to the Roman government com- 
menced with a telegram from the Florence cabinet to the Chevalier 
Nigra, Italian minister at Paris, on the 30th of September, which 
said that, in the event of a revolution at Rome, the Italian govern- 
ment would necessarily be compelled to intervene in order to pre- 
serve public tranquillity and guard Italian institutions. The French 



762 ITAL V 577? UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

government replied, that in case of such events it would not act 
without previously communicating with the Italian government, and 
insisted upon the frontier being loyally watched. On the 14th of 
October the Italian government protested against the violation of the 
September convention by France, and declared that if the French 
troops marched towards Rome, it would be compelled to intervene 
and occupy pontifical territory without fail. Chevalier Nigra ex- 
pressed his opinion that the Italian government might avert a French 
occupation by redoubled efforts to repress the Garibaldian invasion 
without occupying pontifical territory. A note from the Italian gov- 
ernment, on the 17th of October, said: ''That in the event of a 
revolution taking place in Rome, the only efficacious means was the 
intervention of Italy for the purpose of restoring order and protect- 
ing the person of the pontiff, leaving the question of sovereignty 
intact." On the same day the French government replied that it did 
not, in any case, admit Italian intervention at Rome, since a revolu- 
tion in that city would be considea-ed at Paris as the consequence 
of the invasion of pontifical territory. 

In the mean time Garibaldi, having entered the Campagna, de- 
feated the papal forces at Monte Rotundo on the 25th of October, 
marched upon Rome, and prepared to enter it. A note from the 
Marquis d' Azeglio, dated at London the 29th of October, stated 
that Lord Stanley had declared that England would exert her, .good 
offices to prevent the entry of the Italian troops being considered by 
France as a casus belli. The popular feeling in Italy was intensified 
when Garibaldi returned to the head of forces on the 14th of Octo- 
ber. It appears, from a closely printed volume of official documents 
presented to the Chamber of Deputies on the 28th of December, that 
Rattazzi had, previous to the 14th of October, outwardly at least, 
endeavored to prevent the Garibaldian movement ; but, finding that 
a large number of local officials of the grand proprietors and of the 
national guard did not conceal their sympathy with it, he yielded to 
the tide and declared the impossibility of successfully resisting the 
invasion. As serious complications had arisen with France, Rattazzi, 
on the 15th of October, tendered his resignation, which was accepted 
by the king, who intrusted General Menabrea with the formation of 
a new ministry. The latter, as constituted by him, and which was in 
power when Garibaldi was approaching Rome on the 25th of October, 
was as follows : President of the council of ministers, and minister of 
foreign affairs, Lieutenant-general Count Louis Fred Menabrea ; min- 
ter of the interior, Marquis Gualterio ; minister of grace, justice, 



A PROPOSED CONFERENCE. 763 

and worship, Adrian Mari ; minister of war, Major-general Hector 
Maria Bertole Viele ; minister of finance, Count Cambray Digny ; 
minister of public instruction, Emil Broglio ; minister of public works. 
Count Cantelli ; minister of the navy, Counter-admiral Provana. 

On the 2d of November Chevalier Nigra wrote that the French 
government did not consider the entry of the Italian troops into the 
pontifical territory as a casus belli, and had ordered the French troops 
to avoid all collision with the Italian army. A dispatch from the 
Spanish minister for foreign affairs, on the 2d of November, stated 
that the sending of a Spanish frigate was in no way intended as a 
hostile step toward Italy, but had only been taken to offer a refuge 
to the HQly Father in case he might wish to leave his states. On 
the 9th of November Chevalier Nigra sent a dispatch announcing that 
the French government absolutely rejected the idea of the conference 
for settling the Roman question, which had been proposed by Italy, 
consisting only of Catholic powers. Baron Beust had stated to the 
Italian minister at Vienna that Austria declined to take part in a 
conference where none were present but Catholic powers, and in ad- 
hering to the proposal of a conference assumed no initiative. A 
note from General Menabrea, on the 14th of November, declared 
that Italy rejected the proposed conference if it consisted only of 
Catholic powers, and only consented that the representatives of the 
great powders should deliberate upon the Roman question, as in the 
case of other questions of general interest. The Italian government 
could not take part in any deliberation that might establish a still 
worse position of affairs between Italy and the ''Holy See." In reply- 
ing to the invitation to the conference Prince Gortschakoff said that 
it was not necessary to engage Italy to resist revolutionary move- 
ments, and that Russia could not accept a conference for the settle- 
ment of the Roman question without knowing its basis. A dispatch 
from General Menabrea on the 19th of November announced that 
the Italian government, while reserving the inalienable right of the 
independence and unity of the kingdom, did not hesitate to accept 
the conference in principle, certain that the powers would be favora- 
ble to Italy. He asked what would be the position of Italy in the 
conference, whether it was expected that she should attend only to 
declare her rights — a position suitable to a great state which sub- 
mitted a great question to friendly governments — or whether the 
resolutions of the conference would have authority, or be confined to 
offering counsels? In the latter case. General Menabrea inquired 
whether the French government would insure their sanction. The 



764 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Italian government would not admit any retrospective consideration 
of the facts by which the kingdom had been constituted. The de- 
liberations of the conference should be confined to removing the 
difficulties between Italy and the "Holy See." 

The Italian parliament reassembled on the 5th of December, 
1867. General Menabrea announced the composition of the new 
ministry, and explained its policy. After alluding to the difficulties 
which the new cabinet had encountered, he went on to maintain the 
right of Italy to intervene in the pontifical states when the interven- 
tion of France took place. He said: ''It was the right and duty of 
the government to arrest Garibaldi, who had violated the laws of his 
country. The conduct of the ministry, in spontaneously withdrawing 
the troops of Italy when all danger had ceased, prevented the arrival 
of other foreign soldiers, and facilitated the departure of a portion 
of those who had entered the papal territory." After justifying the 
acts of repression which had been exercised during the recent state 
of things. General Menabrea stated that the king had resolved to 
grant amnesty to all persons compromised by the late events. With 
regard to the Roman question, he said that it required very little to 
thwart the diplomatic action of the government. Referring to the 
rights of Italy, General Menabrea maintained that Rome, being in an 
isolated position in the center of Italy, was an impediment to the 
freedom of communication between the provinces of the Italian king- 
dom. He said: ''Supposing France had a foreign government at 
Paris, how could she exist ? The Roman question is not to be solved 
by violence. The ^Holy See* will be respected; and the pope will 
find his strongest support in Italy, and not from abroad." 

On the 6th of December the Chamber of Deputies elected Signor 
Lanza, the candidate of the government, president of the Chamber 
by one hundred and ninety-four votes against one hundred and fifty- 
four, which were given to Rattazzi. On the 2 2d of December Signor 
Bonfordini proposed an order of the day affirming Rome to be the 
capital of Italy, deprecating the attainment of that object by illegal 
means, and approving the conduct of the ministry. General Mena- 
brea accepted the order of the day. The result of the vote was one 
hundred and ninety-nine in favor of the motion and two hundred and 
one against it, defeating the ministry by a majority of two. 

During 1867 the Protestant missions in Italy were in a prosperous 
condition, estimating them not so much by the number of commu- 
nicants as by their religious status. The Rev. VV. G. Moorehead, in 
his report to the "American and Foreign Christian Union," stated 



VARIOUS EVANGELICAL MISSIONS. 765 

that the following laborers under his direction in Central Italy were 
supported by that society : Evangelists — S. Bernalto, G. Gallcgari, E. 
Volpi, E. Zati, G. Martinelli, G. Rovillo, G. P. Luquet, B. Brachetto; 
Colpoiiairs — E. Rocca, G. P. Gardiol, G. Barsant ; Teachers — B. Ber- 
natto, Mrs. Rutigni, Mr. and Mrs. Suquet, C. Petrella, Miss Bonis ; 
Students — Domenico Beisso, Adele Galazzo, The stations occupied 
were Torano, Carrara, Miseglia, Spezia, Casano, Sarzana, Foiano, 
Prato, Portoferraio, Longone, Terni, Bari, and Lecce. Mr. Moore- 
head visited the latter city, which is situated in the extreme south of 
Puglie, on the Adriatic side of the Apennines, and contained about 
thirty thousand inhabitants. He described it as being far in advance 
of the great majority of Neapohtan cities in general intelligence and 
refinement. In writing of the obstacles to be overcome there and 
elsewhere before missions can be successfully established, he expressed 
his belief in the ultimate triumph of truth. "Multitudes of famish- 
ing souls," he declared, "are earnestly seeking the bread of life. In 
every city, town, and village of the Italian Peninsula are some, few or 
many, who are longingl}^ waiting for the true light to illumine their 
hearts. To carry the Gospel to such was the 'American and P'oreign 
Christian Union ' originally formed ; to this end it labors to-day in Italy. " 

The intolerant spirit of the papacy was manifested in Rome toward 
the Rev, Mr. Lewis, an English Presbyterian minister, who, having 
been prohibited from holding religious meetings within the walls of 
the city, secured a room outside. In the Autumn of 1867 the priests 
labored hard to induce the proprietor to break his engagement, and 
thus prevent the Protestants from assembling on his premises; bivt 
they were unsuccessful. The hall was a dining-room of an old hotel, 
which w^as built for strangers, who, arriving after the gate was closed, 
spent the night there. It was difficult of access, but, despite the ob- 
stacles, the congregation steadily increased. The American residents, 
also, were compelled to worship outside the walls in the same building. 

During 1867 Signor D. Bolognini, an evangelist of the Free Italian 
Church, visited many cities and villages, preaching the Gospel and 
organizing Sabbath-schools. The English Wesleyan missions passed 
through trials similar to those of the preceding year. Some stations 
were abandoned for want of support, and others were weakened by 
rival agencies. Yet five new colporteurs were appointed, and 
"Wesley's Sermons" extensively distributed. This aroused the op- 
position of a priest at Salerno, v.'ho gathered Methodist books and 
tracts, and burned them in his cathedral before a statue of the 
Virgin Mary ! 



'j66 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 



Seventh Decade Continued, 1860-1870. 



Chapter XXVIII. 

PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT— EVANGELICAL MISSIONS— PAPAL 

COUNCIL. 

ON the 5th of January, 1868, a new Italian cabinet was formed, 
consisting of General Menabrea, president and minister of for- 
eign affairs ; Senator Cadorna, minister of the interior ; Count Cam- 
bray Digny, minister of finance; Major-general Bertole Viale, minister 
of war; Deputy De Filippo, minister of justice; Signor Broglio, 
minister of public instruction and commerce ; Count Cantelli, minis- 
ter of public works ; and Admiral Ribotti, minister of marine. In 
September Count Cantelli was appointed to the ministry of the inte- 
rior, and Signor Pasini in his place to the ministry of public works ; 
and on the 9th of October Signor Vicenza received the appointment 
of minister of agriculture and commerce. The different financial 
measures proposed by Count Cambray Digny engaged the almost 
exclusive attention of parliament for more than six months, and that 
body adopted the plan of the government with but slight modifica- 
tions. Among the various items of interest were the statements that 
the Garibaldian movement of the previous October had cost the state 
about eighteen millions of lire, and that the sale of ecclesiastical 
property realized over forty millions of lire. 

The parliament reassembled after the Autumn vacation on the 
24th of November, and on the following day Signor Mari was elected 
president of the Chamber of Deputies by one hundred and eighty-five 
votes against ninety -three given to Signor Crispi, the candidate of 
the Left. Signor Mordino, the candidate of the Right, was chosen 
vice-president. Signor Curti asked the government what course it 
intended to take after the fresh defiance by the papacy to Italy, given 
by the execution of Monti and Toguetti on the 24th of November. 
Menabrea, in reply, said that he did not disguise the political signifi- 
cance of the unjustifiable act of the pontifical government, and added, 
"The Italian government made every possible effort to avert it; but 
for the present I can not reply, or accept the discussion upon the 
question raised by Signor Curti." General Bixio said that one of the 



THE EVANGELICAL MOVEMENT. ySj 

condemned men was an Italian citizen, and that the execution should 
have been prevented at any cost. A vigorous and decided poHcy, 
he added, was necessary to restrain the papacy, and to compel France 
to cease imposing her dominion at Rome. General Menabrca, while 
sharing the general indignation felt by the country and the parlia- 
ment, protested against the assertion that Italy suffered humiliation 
from any foreign power, and deprecated further discussion as inexpe- 
dient. A warm debate followed ; and the speeches condemning the 
papacy and protesting against the French intervention at Rome were 
loudly applauded by the members of the Chamber and the public in 
the galleries. Signor Correnti proposed the following motion: "The 
Chamber, fully concurring in the censure passed by the government 
upon the acts of the papacy, passes to the order of the day." The 
first part of this motion was unanimously approved, and the Chamber 
then passed to the order of the day by one hundred and forty-seven 
votes to one hundred and nineteen. 

During the year 1868 the Protestant mission work in Italy made 
considerable progress. Rev. W. G. Moorehead the efficient repre- 
sentative of the "American and Foreign Christian Union" at Car- 
rara, in a letter, written on the 3d of February, to the official organ 
of the United Presbyterian Church of America, says: "Of course, 
as in all mission fields, there are here also many obstacles and diffi- 
culties which discourage and dishearten us ; but there are times when 
our hearts are consoled and rejoiced. I have no doubt whatever as 
to the extent and depth of the evangelical movement in Italy ; nor 
do I doubt the future results of faithful Gospel work in this land. 
Here and there little churches are springing up and throwing their 
light far into the surrounding darkness." Mr. Moorehead refers to 
the abandonment of Sarzana as a place of preaching. For almost 
three months a constant audience ranging from sixty to one hundred 
and twenty, assembled five times every week to hear the Gospel, but 
improper means employed by the Romanists enticed away all the 
people except two or three. The diocese of Sarzana had been va- 
cant for fourteen years, but in June, 1867, the bishop previously 
appointed by the government took possession of his chair. This 
step filled the priests with fresh courage and zeal, and they privately 
visited those who had attended the Protestant meetings, and per- 
suaded them, it is said, by the use of money to cease hearing the 
heretics, thus illustrating the proverbial conduct of the Pharisees — 
"They will neither go in themselves, nor suffer them that are enter- 
ing to go in." 



ye^ ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

In letters written to the ''American and Foreign Christian 
Union," in the early part of 1868, Mr. Moorehead gives some inter- 
esting facts concerning the Avork in that part of Italy which was 
under his personal supervision. About the beginning of the year 
religious services were commenced in Prato, a small city situated a 
half hour's ride on the railway from Florence. Signor Ferretti, the 
director of a large and important school in Florence, passed Prato 
every Sabbath on his way to Pistoia, where he ministered to a flour- 
ishing little Church. He concluded, therefore, to preach the Gospel 
in this new field. After much difficulty he secured a place of meet- 
ing, to which twenty-two persons came on the first Sabbath, and 
about forty on the second, several women being among the attend- 
ants. From time to time both men and women could not abstain 
from such exclamations as ''Amen !" "Certainly !" " It is the truth 
indeed !" "What a difference between these meetings and the mass!" 
etc. Mr. Ferretti declared that his object was "not to make Prot- 
estants, but, with the blessing of God, sincere believers in Jesus 
Christ." Avoiding controversy, he followed the example of Paul, 
and preached Christ and him crucified. The priests denounced him 
from their pulpits, but he disregarded their diatribes. Mr. Moore- 
head reported the organization of a mission in Terni, a city of about 
fifteen thousand inhabitants. The evangelist and colporteur held 
private meetings, which were largely attended, and many persons pur- 
chased books and tracts. The inhabitants seemed exceedingly anx- 
ious to hear the truth, and four or five individuals were found who 
had possessed the Bible for years, and gave clear evidence of being 
real Christians. The intelligence from Carrara, Lecce, Bari, Foiano, 
and other places in Central Italy, was also encouraging. 

Rev. W. Clark, who had charge of the missions in Northern 
Italy, sent earnest appeals to the "American and Foreign Christian 
Union" for the necessary means to extend the work of evangeliza- 
tion. In various places the Italian converts, having heard that there 
was a training school at Milan for evangelists, requested men to come 
and preach the Gospel. Since the organization of the theological 
class in 1866 more than sixty Italian young men applied to be 
received as pupils; and while, therefore, laborers could be obtained, 
the want of money prevented the opening of new stations. The 
reports from the Churches already established indicated prosperity. 
Signor Secundo Musso, who had recently returned from the United 
States, where he had conducted an Italian colony, was the evan- 
gelist at San Mauro, a town of two thousand inhabitants, one hour 



REPOR TS FR OM NOR THERN ITAL V. 769 

distant from Turin and opposite Superga, where are the tombs 
of the Sardinian kings and of the members of the royal family. He 
first began to teach there in 1850, and in 1852 married the daughter 
of the mayor. She and her three brothers abandoned the papal 
Church, and the authorities, fearing the growth of the new religion, 
suspended Mr. Musso from his labors as teacher; but he opened a 
private school, which became a means of evangelization. In 1854 
and 1855 he was accused of teaching things contrary to the religion 
of the state. As San Mauro could be supplied from Turin, he left 
there and went to the city of Asti, having organized a society of 
fourteen communicants, a small day-school of twelve, and a large and 
flourishing evening school. After an absence of many years, Mr. 
Musso returned to San Mauro and found eight of the original mem- 
bers of the Church, not one of whom had proved unfaithful. He 
was cordially welcomed and opened a place of worship in his own 
house. 

At Caravaggio, Professor Peccenini, of the theological school in 
Milan, diligently labored among the people ; but as the brethren de- 
sired an evangelist to reside in their midst, Signor Giovanni B. Zuc- 
chi was sent to them. He belonged to the theological class, and 
accomplished a good work in the field to which he was appointed. 
Encouraging reports were also received from the missionaries who had 
visited Bellaggio, Porlezza, Menaggio, and Lecco, all villages, situated 
on the lake of Como. In Venice the only evangelizing agency was 
the Waldensian mission. Signor Gavazzi, while in the city, awak- 
ened a deep religious interest by his eloquent sermons, which attracted 
large congregations, not less than seven Jiundred persons being pres- 
ent at each service. 

The evangelical teacher at Favale, Signor Stephano Cereghini, 
reported that the friends of the Gospel continued steadfast in the faith. 
This village is situated about twenty miles from Genoa in the district 
Fontanabuano, and is shut in by mountain fastnesses. The people 
were ignorant and superstitious previous to 1852, when a Protestant 
mission was established, and had been taught by the priests that 
Protestants had the ''very image and cloven foot of Satan." During 
the Summer the grassy hills yielded the inhabitants and their cattle a 
scanty subsistence, and when dreary Winter brought its days of 
gloominess and want, the young men with their violins and flutes 
made a musical tour over the land. One of these wandering Favale 
ministrels, Stephano Cereghini, bidding his family and friends farewell 
for the Winter, started with his violin under his arm for the thriving 



770 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

districts of Piedmont. When he arrived at Pignerol, the entrance of 
the Waldensian valleys, and ascertained that the dreadful Protestants 
inhabited that region, he resolved to return home, but before leaving 
he expressed a desire to see one of the abominable heretics. An 
innkeeper pointed out to him one of the Vaudois, when Cereghini, 
raising both hands in astonishment, exclaimed, *'He is a man, has 
no mark or sign of Satan about him." Now he determined to go 
forward and become better acquainted with these despised people. 

On the following morning, with his violin as his companion, he 
proceeded to La Tour, and while passing along the street, beheld a 
benevolent-looking woman standing in the door of her cottage. He 
halted, tuned his violin, and soon the streets echoed with his songs, 
which attracted a large and delighted crowd. The woman invited 
him into the house to partake with them their evening meal, and he 
gladly accepted, but was filled with terror when he learned that she 
was a Protestant. Instead, however, of hearing impious and blas- 
phemous words, he was surprised at the godly conversation of the 
devout lady, who asked him questions concerning his soul's salva- 
tion. His heart was moved, and he requested an introduction to 
the Waldensian evangelist in that vicinity. The result was that 
Cereghini entered into the light, and wrote to his parents, saying, 
*'/ Jiave found the Bible, and when I return home I will read it to 
you." This intelligence stunned the family and friends, and prayer 
was offered three times a day that the young man might be rescued 
from destruction. When Spring opened, the converted minstrel 
hastened back to Favale; but instead of being welcomed with joy 
and gladness, he was shunned as though he had the plague. He 
gradually won their confidence by relating Biblical stories, and when 
they asked him where he had learned them, he replied that they 
were contained in a book which he owned. They were delighted, and 
continued to meet together from evening to evening, listening eagerly 
to Cereghini's Bible-readings. 

In answer to the prayers of the faithful young Christian, his 
brothers and sisters, and several of his relatives, about twenty-five 
in all, were hopefully converted to the truth. The priests were ter- 
ribly enraged, and from the pulpit, the altar, and the confes- 
sional denounced the heretics. On the 13th of November, 1852, ten 
officers of the government surrounded the house of the so-called 
Protestants, arrested three brothers and two sisters, and conducted 
them to the town of Chiavari, where they were imprisoned sepa- 
rately in miserable cells, and where they remained four months suf- 



MILAN THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL. Jji 

fering pains, physical and spiritual, hardly to be described. Finally, 
after three day's trial in court before thousands of persons, they were 
released. Joseph died soon after from injuries received in prison, 
and Agostine was seriously crippled. Stephano spent three years in 
the Protestant college at La Tour, and then returned to Favale to 
instruct the people. In 1862 the Protestants there had a small 
chapel, a membership of sixty persons, and an interesting school. 

During the year 1869 the Protestant cause in Italy gradually 
advanced, and the laborers there were encouraged by evidences of 
spiritual prosperity. Rev. W. G. Moorhead, the '' Missionary Direc- 
tor" of the American and Foreign Christian Union, resident at Flor- 
ence, employed nine evangelists, and four teachers and colporteurs. 
The number of stations and out-stations occupied was fourteen. Rev. 
W. Clark, the "missionary director" of the same society, residing 
in Milan, employed thirteen evangelists, two Bible-women, and one 
teacher. There were fourteen stations and eleven out-stations. • The 
Milan Theological school reported three professors and twenty-two 
students. This institution was organized in the Spring of 1866, and 
opened with thirteen students. It received hberal donations from 
several American philanthropists, and during the first two years 
the number of students ranged from thirteen to twenty. Professor 
Paulo Bergaglio, formerly professor of history and languages in the 
Cavour Institute in Turin, and afterwards in the Ambrosian College 
in Milan; Professor Francesco Gatti, formerly professor of philos- 
ophy in, and president of the Municipal College of Altamura; and Pro- 
fessor Melchiore Peccenini, for several years an evangelist of the 
"American and Foreign Christian Union" — these able instructors 
had charge of the three prominent departments of the Milan school. 
Signor Francesco Lagomarsino, one of the first Italians converts, who, 
with Mazzarela and others, long fought and suffered even imprison- 
ment for the truth, trained the pupils in the practical and critical 
study of the Bible. 

On the 31st of December, 1869, Dr. Luigi De Sanctis, the dis- 
tinguished Italian theologian, died in Florence, after a severe illness. 
He was born in Rome, December 31, 1808, and in early life felt 
that he was called to the priesthood. After completing his studies 
he was consecrated, and received the appointment of confessor from 
the bishop of Viterbo. He obtained several positions of professor of 
fine arts, belles-lettres, and philosophy, and was honored with the 
degree of professor of divinity by the University of Viterbo. In 
1835, when the cholera desolated Genoa and swept away many 

so 



77^ 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 




DE SANCTIS. 



priests, young De Sanctis visited the hospital called Lazzaretto, and 
manifested truly a benevolent spirit during thirteen months of inces- 
sant labor in this work. His health becoming impaired, he received 
permission from Padre Togni, the head of the order, to return to 
Rome. In 1838, yielding to his religious impulses, he entered the 
ministry, and was fully authorized to preach. In 1839 ^"^^ ^^'^^ ^P' 
pointed preacher of the "Convent of the Conception," and in the 
following year, on the 7th of February, by the special apostolic 



THE LIFE AXD LABORS OF DE SANCTIS. 



772> 



letter of Gregory XVI, he was constituted curate of Madelina alia 
Rotwida. On the 15th of the same month the cardinal vicar con- 
firmed the nomination, and De Sanctis became minister of Polizzia, 
such being the curate of Rome, a difficult and dangerous office, 
because a word from the curate could imprison any man. 

In 1842 he was the preacher of Santa Croce dci Liicchesi, and during 
the following year held a similar position in Santa Maria de Monti. 
At this time he was accused of speaking disrespectfully of the pope, 
and was condemned by the Inquisition for disloyalty. In 1844 he 
was again appointed to officiate in the '' Convent of the Conception " in 
Campo Martio, and was also chosen biographer of the order to which 
he belonged. In 1845 ^^^ preached to the convicts in the Castle of 
St. Angelo; and the next year proved to be the most memorable 
in his history. He received an unexpected visit from Rev. Mr. 
Lownes, pastor of the Scotch Church in Malta, who had come to 
see him in the name of his friend. Padre Achilli. The latter had 
informed him of the opinions of De Sanctis, and during the interview 
the dissatisfied priest expressed his feelings, but declared that he 
could not leave the Romish Church on account of famih' relations. 
In writing theses on various religious subjects, he was convinced of 
the errors and apostasy of the Church, and the conversation of 
Mr. Lownes rendered his convictions more intense. In September, 
1847, 1^^ ^^'^s again visited by this minister, whom he now recognized 
as his liberator. De Sanctis, having resolved to abandon the priest- 
hood, would have hastened to Civita Vecchia, and sailed for Malta, 
but knowing that imprisonment for life was the penalty in case of 
arrest, he accepted Mr. Lownes's invitation to accompany him to 
Ancona, where he would find an opportunity to reach Corfu, Greece. 
He informed the superior of his order that he desired to make an excur- 
sion to Ancona, and probably to Venice. After considerable diffi- 
culty, he obtained a passport through the influence of ]\Ir. Lownes, and 
having received from the superior testimonials of his standing in the 
priesthood, he proceeded to Ancona on the nth of September. He 
remained there until the 20th, burdened with anxiety, because he 
feared arrest; but I\Ir. Lownes consoled him, and shortly before the 
sailing of the steamer, conducted him to the residence of the English 
consul, where he divested himself of his sacerdotal robes and hat, 
exchanging his short pants for long ones. Disguised in the dress of 
a citizen, De Sanctis seemed to be a different man, and when the 
vessel moved out of port he breathed more freely, while gratitude 



774 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

to God filled his heart. Finding a rosary in his pocket, he desired 
to throw it into the sea, but Mr. Lownes asked him for it as a 
remembrance of his conversion to the Gospel. 

From Corfu the refugee proceeded to Malta, where he resided 
two }'ears. When Pius IX heard of his escape he was enraged, 
and Cardinal Ferretti dismissed the man who gave the passport, but 
afterwards restored him. De Sanctis found many friends in Malta, 
including Padre Achilli, who had left his order of monks, and had 
preached several years to the Italians on the island. In 1844 the 
ex-monk started a paper, called '' Indie atorc,'" to which De Sanctis 
contributed. The latter also wrote letters to Padre Togni and Car- 
dinal Patrizzi, giving his reasons for leaving the Romish Church. He 
preachec^ every Sabbath morning and evening in Padre Achilli's 
church, and lectured on the Epistles of St. Peter. Tuscany having 
granted religious liberty in 1848, De Sanctis proceeded to Italy, and 
proclaimed the Gospel in the Swiss church at Florence, the Scotch 
church in Leghorn, and elsewhere; but the priests appealed to the 
authorities to prevent his preaching in the Italian language. He 
returned to Malta, published the journal ''Jjidicatoir," and established 
another called " Cattolica Christiana,'' in wdiich appeared his famous 
letter to Pius IX, which has reached twenty editions. The bishop 
of Malta condemned it, and anathematized its author. In June, 1849, 
De Sanctis was married to I\Iiss Martha Sommerville, an English 
lad)-; and in March, 1850, arrived at Genoa, where he preached a 
few months. He then made a missionary tour among the Italians 
residing in Switzerland, and wrote a commentary on the Epistles of 
St. Peter. On September i, 1852, the Waldensian Table invited 
him to come to Turin, and after spending almost a year there he 
was consecrated August 31, 1853. In April, 1854, he went to Geneva 
and other places, laboring for the Waldenses; but in 1855 he with- 
drew from that body on account of the difficulty concerning church 
property. He then devoted ten years of his life to the work of organ- 
izing ''Free Churches" in Genoa, Turin, and elsewhere. In March, 
1864, he published a "Confession of Faith," in which he rejected 
Plymouthism, and in 1865 issued his colossal work called "Roman 
Papale." Removing to Florence, he became editor of the Aniico di 
Casa, and died on the anniversary of his birth, December 31, 
1869. For five years he had been professor of theology in the Wal- 
densian seminary in that city, and also devoted some time to writing 
and preaching. He passed away in the triumphs of faith, was buried 



NEW CABINET. 775 

in the English cemeter}'. and left behind him as sincere monrners the 
Protestant Christians of Ital}\ In the following June a stone was 
placed over his grave bearing this inscription: "To the memory of 
Luigi De Sanctis, a herald of the Gospel, born in Rome, December 
31, 1808; died in Florence, December 31, 1869. This monument 
was erected by all the evangelical Christians of Italy. *I am the res- 
urrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead. 
}'et shall he live' (John, xi, 25). 'And behold I come quickl}', and 
m\' reward is with me to give every man according as his work 
shall be' — 'Even so, come, Lord Jesus' (Rev. xxii, 12, 20)." 

The political condition of Italy in 1869 was comparatively tran- 
quil. On the 5th of ]\Iay the ministry resigned, and Menabrea, the 
president, undertook to form a new cabinet, but soon retired in 
favor of Count Cambray Digny. The crisis ended on the 13th of 
May, and a new ministry constituted, as follows: General INIena- 
brea, president of the council and minister of financial affairs ; 
Signor Ferrari, minister of the interior; Signor A. Madani, minister 
of public works ; Signor Bargoni, minister of public instruction ; Sig- 
nor Minghetti, minister of commerce and agriculture. The minister 
of finance, war, and marine remained the same. The administration 
of Victor Emmanuel was generally popular, and wdien he visited 
Venice in October, to welcome the Empress Eugenie, he was received 
with great enthusiasm. In November he was so ill that his death 
was expected, and the members of the royal family were summoned 
to Florence. He recovered, however, and met with a hearty recep- 
tion from the people on his trip to Turin and on his return to the 
capital. 

An interesting event in the ecclesiastical history of Italy was the 
assembling of the famous CEcumenical Council at Rome, on the 8th 
of December, the festival of the Immaculate Conception. The morn- 
ing was ushered in by the booming of cannon, the ringing of bells, 
and stormy, unpropitious weather. Yet St. Peter's was crowded with 
more than a thousand cardinals, archbishops, and bishops, from every 
part of the world, and an audience of ninety thousand people. The 
chamber where the council held its sessions was in the north transept 
of St. Peter's, which was well adapted for scenic display, but not so 
well for speaking or hearing. At nine o'clock in the morning the 
pope, dressed in white satin, glittering with diamonds, c.nd borne on 
men's shoulders, entered the council-chamber, preceded by cardinals, 
bishops, and ecclesiastics of every kind. A concealed choir sang the 



77^ 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 



" Veni Creator," and as the cardinals, patriarchs, abbes, archbishops, 
and bishops occupied their respective places, the pope led in the 
chant, the whole body of ecclesiastics uniting in the chorus. Then 




followed the ceremony of kissing the pope's foot. The council con- 
sisted of seven hundred and sixty-four delegates, more than one-third 
of Avhom were from Italy alone, thus giving to the Italian Romanists 
and the Ultramontrjies the control of the assembly. 



THE FREE CHURCH ASSEMBLY. 'J J J 



EIGHTH DECADE, 1870-1880. 



Chapter XXIX. 

THE ^' FREE CHURCH''— THE KING IN ROME— PROTESTANT 

MISSIONS. 

NO important event, religious or political, took place in Italy 
during the early part of 1870. On the 22d of June, however, 
an ecclesiastical body met in the city of Milan, whose deliberations 
were destined to exert a great influence upon the moral character of 
the nation. The representatives of the various Italian Free Churches, 
in obedience to the call of a "committee" previously appointed, 
assembled together for the purpose of securing unity of effort in the 
work of evangelization. The first formal attempt in 1865 having 
resulted in nothing practical, these scattered and isolated congrega- 
tions resolved to make another trial, the Church in Milan taking the 
initiative, and sending forth an earnest appeal. After the meeting 
had been opened with prayer, the following delegates presented their 
credentials and were enrolled : Florence — Salvatore Ferrati, Alessandro 
Gavazzi, Angiolo Bagnoli. Bologna — Damiano Borgia. Pisa — De 
Michelis, Ranieri Ciesti. Milan — P. Rossi, F. Lagomarsino, G. Al- 
borghetti. Veivna — C. Canova. Brescia — A. Beria. Udine — A. 
Girola. T^'eviso — L. Signorelli, A. Peruzzi. Terni — G. Martinelli. 
Carrara — E. Volpi. Spezzia and Areola — G. D. Dassio. Corno and 
Fara — S. Contini. Treviglio and Caravaggio — G. B. Zucchi. Bassig- 
naria — G. Balossini. Casale Monfei'rato — C. Cocorda. San Giovanni 
Pellice — C. Cocorda, E. Jahier. Graglia — F. Lagomarsino. Livotiio, 
Vercellese, and San Maiiro Torinese — S. IMusso. 

The above twenty-three Churches were represented regularly by 
deputies. There were also present, from the Church of Genoa, D. 
Bolignini and S. Bernatto, -without credentials, who were unanimously 
invited to take part in the proceedings of the assembly. Besides the 
Churches above mentioned, the following had also given in their ad- 
hesion to the appeal for the organization of the assembly ; namely, 
Bari, Barletta, Lecce, Trani Novi-Ligure, Portoferraio, Tortonaio, and 
Forano. Thirty-three Churches, therefore, adhered to this assembly, 



778 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

and several others were expected to join. The assembly proceeded 
to the election of officers ; and S. Ferrati was cliosen president ; F. 
Lagomarsino and De Michelis, vice-presidents ; and S. Bernatto and 
C. Cocorda, secretaries. After determining that there should be three 
sessions each day, the first session was closed with prayer. 

At the second session the order of the day was the great question 
for which the assembly was convened — the union of the Italian Free 
Churches — which was freely and fraternally discussed. De Michelis, 
Bernatto, Lagomarsino, Gavazzi, Bolognini, Musso, Cocorda, Jahier, 
Zucchi, Rossi, Canova, Ferretti, and Volpi took part in this discus- 
sion. The necessity of such a union was universally recognized, and 
the propriety of establishing it upon a declaration of principles com- 
mon to all the Free Churches, conformably to the appeal of the 
Church of Milan. At the third session, after the reading of the 
minutes of the previous session, a discussion followed upon the fun- 
damental principles which should constitute the basis of union. The 
principal speakers were Gavazzi, Lagomarsino, Cocorda, Bernatto, 
Bolognini, and Jahier. As the result of this discussion, it was de- 
termined that a clear distinction must be made between the general 
interests of the evangelical work and the particular interests of indi- 
vidual congregations, and the following paper was therefore adopted : 
*'The assembly, considering that the union of the Churches ought 
not to trespass upon the liberty of individual Churches and congre- 
gations, affirm that the declaration of principles to be proposed as a 
basis of union for the Churches be limited to the fundamental doc- 
trines of faith." 

Formulas of such doctrines having been prepared by the Church 
of Florence and the commission of Milan, both were submitted to 
the assembly, and a committee was appointed to examine and report 
upon the two schemes — Bolognini, De Michelis, and Jahier being 
selected to perform this duty. After a discussion of various matters 
relating to the assembly of the Italian Churches held in Bologna in 
1866, the assembly passed to the reading and examination of the 
letter of the brethren of the Church of Florence (Via Maggio). 
After a lengthy discussion upon the principles involved in said letter 
at variance with and opposed to consummation of the union of the 
Churches, a commission was appointed to reply to it in the spirit of 
Christian love and charity. Gavazzi, Rossi, and Cocorda were chosen 
to discharge this important duty. The sessions of the 23d and 24th 
of June were principally occupied in the discussion of the declaration 
of principles presented by the commission. The articles were taken 



DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES. 779 

up one by one, and faithfully discussed ; after which they were all 
unanimously adopted, as follows : 

**I. God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, has manifested his 
will in revelation, which is the Bible, the only perfect and immutable 
rule of faith and conduct. 

"11. God created man upright, in his own image and likeness; 
but Adam disobeyed the word of God, sinned ; and so by one man 
sin entered into the world, and death by sin. By which cause human 
nature in Adam and by Adam has become corrupt and sinful ; and 
we all in Adam are born with an inclination to do evil, and an inca- 
pacity to do the good commanded by God. We are, therefore, by 
nature all sinners, and under condemnation. 

''III. God wills not the death of the sinner, but that he should 
come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved. 

''IV. Salvation comes from the free and eternal love of the Fa- 
ther, and is obtained by the expiatory sacrifice, by the resurrection, 
and by the intercession of the Son, who justifies us. It is communi- 
cated by the Holy Spirit, who, regenerating the sinner, unites him to 
Christ by faith, comes to dwell in him, produces peace in his heart, 
giving him the assurance of the remission of his sins, renders him 
free, guides and comforts him by the Word that he himself has given, 
seals and keeps him to the day of the appearing of our Lord and 
Savior Jesus Christ. 

"V. The Christian, redeemed at a great price, is bound to glorify 
God in his body, soul, and spirit, which belong to God, walking in 
holiness, without which no one can see the Lord. To do this he 
obtains strength from him who has said, ' My grace is sufficient 
for thee.' 

"VI. Believers regenerated in Christ form the Church, which can 
not perish or apostatize, it being the body of the Lord Jesus. 

"VII. Besides the universal priesthood to which all believers 
appertain, God himself has established in the Church ministers for 
the perfecting of the saints and the edification of the body of Christ, 
w^iich ministers ought to be recognized by the Church itself 

"VIII. The Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, and 
change our body of humiliation into a glorious body. In that day 
the dead in Christ will rise first, and the living found faithful will be 
transformed ; and so all will be caught up in the clouds to meet the 
Lord in the air to be forever with him, and, after, all others will rise 
to be judged. 

"The General Assembly of the Free Christian Church in Italy 



780 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

considers these articles the expression of BibHcal Christianity; not 
pretending, however, to say that there are not many other doctrines in 
the Bible necessary to be believed — such, for instance, as the Lord's- 
supper and Baptism. It lays no claim to infallibility. The Word 
of God is alone infallible. The declaration of principles in the Church 
is not the cause or the title of salvation, but the external bond of 
the unity of faith and the banner of the Church itself." 

This *' Declaration of Principles common to all the various con- 
gregations that compose the Free Christian Church in Italy" was 
then again read and voted by acclamation as a whole. The joy and 
gratitude of the entire assembly at the great step taken was expressed 
in a fervent prayer of thanksgiving by the evangelist Rossi. 

At the ninth session, in view of the common declaration of faith 
and the unanimity with which it was voted, the assembly adopted a 
solemn declaration of the union of the Free Churches in Italy also, 
for the work of evangelization, as follows: "Ail the Churches repre- 
sented in the General Assembly in Milan, already united in faith and 
love, do declare by their representatives that they are united in one 
body, and bound together in agreement or compact for the great 
work of the evangelization of Italy." And that this important act 
should not be misinterpreted nor attributed to the spirit of sect, it 
was voted that "the assembly declares itself to be united with all 
Churches and evangelical Christians throughout the world in the 
bonds of communion with our Lord Jesus." Then there followed a 
discussion in regard to the "General Assembly," its composition, 
powers, and convocation. Two projects or plans were presented, 
one by the Church of Florence, and the other by the commission of 
Milan. The latter, after a brief discussion, was adopted, embracing 
the following articles : 

"I. The assembly is composed of all the deputies of the united 
Churches, and each Church shall have the privilege of sending from 
one to three deputies. 

"2. It shall be held annually, and determine the time of each 
succeeding meeting. 

"3. The powers of the assembly are the following: To establish 
some general plan for the work of evangelization ; appoint its com 
mittee and examine the work of the same. It may modify, if neces- 
sary, the declaration of principles at the suggestion or counsel of the 
Churches ; it may accept new Churches that desire to form part of 
this Union, and can judge in the last appeal controversies that may 
arise in the bosom of the Union itself. 



VARIOUS RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED. 78 1 

**4. The assembly shall appoint its treasurer, independent of 
the committee, for keeping the funds of the Free Italian Church, 
which treasurer shall be authorized to receive donations and leg- 
acies in favor of said Church. He shall not be able, however, 
to make any payments except by order of the committee, which 
alone can establish all regulations in reference to said donations 
and legacies." 

The assembly then proceeded to the discussion of the rules for 
the Committee of Evangelization, and, by a unanimous vote, adopted 
the following articles : 

**i. The Committee of Evangelization shall consist of not less 
than five and not more than seven members, and elected annually by 
the assembly, and its members can be re-elected. 

"2. The office of this committee shall be to superintend the work 
of evangelization, collect funds necessary for this work, and aid la- 
borers in connection with it. 

**3. This committee shall present an annual report of its work to 
the general assembl}-. " 

At the tenth and last session, after various matters relating to the 
interests of the Church were discussed, the assembly proceeded to 
the election of the Committee of Evangelization. There were elected 
for the Italian part of the committee : Gavazzi, Ferretti, and Lago- 
marsino. For the foreign element there were elected : Rev. W. 
Clark, Rev. A. R. Van Nest, D. D., and Rev. J. R. M'Dougall. 
Messrs. E}-re and Matteini, bankers, were elected financial agents of 
the assembly. All the minutes of the various sessions were then 
read and approved, and after a most affecting season of jo}'ous inter- 
change of thought and feeling at the glorious consummation of this 
important work, prayer was offered, and the president declared the 
present assembly closed. 

While this small ecclesiastical body of plain, earnest Protestant 
ministers was proclaiming its faith in the pure doctrines of an apos- 
tolic Christianity, the Romish QEcumenical Council was denouncing 
the progress of civil and religioifs liberty. What a contrast between 
the assemblage at Milan and that at Rome ! The latter with impos- 
ing pomp and ceremony conducted business in secret amid the grand- 
eur of St. Peter's. Five hundred and thirty-three papal dignitaries, 
from various parts of the earth, clad in their magnificent robes, had 
been deliberating in solemn conclave since the 8th of December, 1869. 
It is now the 14th of July, 1870. The real purpose for which the 
council was called is about to be accomplished. For weeks a stormy 



782 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 

discussion had characterized the proceedings, but the few prelates 
who protested against the blasphemous dogma of infallibility lifted 
up their voices in vain. The vote Is taken — four hundred and fifty 
responding placet, or }'es ; eighty-eight non placet, or no ; and sixty- 
two //^^rr/ ///.r/^ ;;/6'<'/w;/, or qualified approval. 

Monday, the i8th of July, was selected for the promulgation of 
the decree of infallibility. It was apparent to the careful observer 
that the council did not close with the same pious enthusiasm which 
greeted its opening. The somber streets of Rome exhibited no elab- 
orate decorations, and were not crowded with hurrying vehicles and 
throngs of pedestrians. The city, instead of wearing the habiliments 
of the carnival, appeared to be deserted, the heat of Summer having 
driven nearly all the strangers away. The devout Romans regarded 
the declarations of the council with cold indifference, -and even the 
deification of one of their own number by the "Mother Church" 
failed to excite them. There was no solemn pageantry, no magnifi- 
cent procession. The ecclesiastics came in one by one, or in little 
groups of two or three. When, at length, the pope arrived, the 
choir took up the opening chant, and the services commenced, but 
nearly a third of the seats in the council chamber were still vacant. 
The minorit}', after a dignified but unavailing remonstrance, had pre- 
viously withdrawn from the council, so that of the august assemblage 
Avhich kneeled reverentially before the pope on the 8th of Decem- 
ber, 1869, five hundred and thirty-five remained — two for the purpose 
of recording tlieir final non placet in the presence of the pope. 

The decree of infallibility was read in a shrill penetrating voice by 
one of the secretaries of the council. As the reading proceeded a 
strange darkness settled over the scene, and appeared even to the 
stoutest and most skeptical hearts as almost supernatural. The very 
air became thick and murky. The roll-call commenced, and the 
ecclesiastics, rising In their places, responded with their assent to an 
act of blasphemy which has had no parallel since the declining days 
of the Roman Empire. Suddenly the long brooding storm broke 
over the Vatican, and the council chamber was illuminated with an 
unearthly glare by the sheeted lightning. The voices of the voting 
delegates were drowned by continuous peals of thunder, but amidst 
this scene of Indescribable sublimity the vote continued to be taken. 
At length the pope arose to declare the result, and to assume the 
prerogative which, in the universal judgment of mankind, belongs to 
God alone. But the darkness was too great for the failing eyesight 
of the venerable pontiff, and he could not decipher the paper which 



READING THE DECREE. 



783 



contained the mennorable formula. Hence a servitor was summoned 
with a hghted taper, and the decree was announced. Thus closed the 
great council, but its efforts to maintain the temporal power of the 





j 


' ' "^ '^ . \ 








i 



J 



papacy were in vain. Already the first step toward the overthrow 
of Babylon had been taken, though Napoleon III, the "Eldest Son 
of the Church," designed to protect the interests of the papal See 



784 ITALY STRUGGLING LXTO LIGHT. 

when he proclaimed, on the 15th of July, war against Germany, the 
only Protestant nation on the Continent. 

The victories of the German army reduced France to such an ex- 
tremity that she was compelled to withdraw her troops from Rome, 
and accordingly they evacuated the city on the 8th of August, 1870, 
embarking at Civita Vecchia for their own countr)^ The Roman 
people were greatly excited because Mazzini threatened to take pos- 
session of the metropolis; but Victor Emmanuel would not permit 
him, as he considered himself still bound by the September conven- 
tion with France, and IMazzini was therefore arrested to keep him 
quiet. On the 2d of September the Emperor Napoleon and the 
French army surrendered to the German forces at' Sedan. This act 
was soon followed by the overthrow of the empire and the establish- 
ment of the French republic, which declared the September conven- 
tion no longer binding upon France. Victor Emmanuel was now 
free from this alliance which so long restrained him, and he at once 
notified Pope Pius IX that he intended to preserve order in Italy — 
a plain intimation that he was det:ermined to be master of Rome. 
The pontiff appealed to King W^illiam of Prussia to protect him, but 
that sovereign declined to interfere in Italian affiirs. The Italian 
troops entered the papal territory, which readily submitted to the 
king, and in a few days took position before Rome. Pius IX refused 
to allow the city to be defended, but caused only sufficient resistance 
to be made to show that he yielded to force. A small breach was 
made in the wall near the Porta Pia, and through this the Italian 
troops entered Rome on the 20th of September. 

On the 2d of October the Roman citizens, by the plebiscite, voted 
fifty thousand to fifty for the government of the king, and against that 
of the pope, and thus, by the decision of his own people, Pius IX, the 
first of infallible popes, became the last of the sovereign pontiffs. 
The revolution was accomplished peacefull}\ The Italian correspond- 
ent of an American journal, who visited the polling-places, declared 
that perfect order prevailed, the municipal council having adopted a 
fair plan, and every class voted except the priests and those asso- 
ciated with them. "I have seen," wrote the correspondent, "the 
carnival in its best days, but I never saw in Rome a scene of so wild 
hilarity and spontaneous joy." As the result of this change, the 
papal arms disappeared rapidly from the public buildings, the Jesuits 
began to leave the city, and new names were given to the streets. 
On the 31st of December, 1870, Victor Emmanuel entered Rome, 
and proclaimed it the capital of free and united Italy. The popular 



PROPOSED MISSION IN ROME. 785 

sentiment was reflected in a speech delivered In the early part of the 
year by Gattini, a member of the Itahan parh'ament. His subject 
was the "Papacy," and in the course of his remarks he said: " Civ- 
ihzatlon asks what share the papacy has taken in its work. Is it the 
press ? Is it electricity ? Is it steam ? Is it chemical analysis ? Is 
it free trade? Is it self-government? Is it the principle of nation- 
ality? Is it the proclamation of the rights of man ? Of the liberty of 
conscience? Of all this the papacy is the negation. Its culminating 
points are Gregory I, who, like Omar, burnt libraries ; Gregory VII, 
who destroyed a moiety of Rome and created the temporal sover- 
eignty ; Innocent III, who founded the Inquisition; Boniface IX, 
who destroyed the last remains of municipal liberty in Rome ; Pius 
VII, who committed the same wrong in Bologna ; Alexander VI, 
who established the censorship of books; Paul III, \\A\o published 
the bull for the establishment of the Jesuits ; Pius V, who covered 
Europe with burning funeral piles ; Urban VIII, w'ho tortured Gali- 
leo ; and Pius IX, who has given us the modern Syllabus.''' It is a 
significant fact that when Victor Emmanuel entered the *' Eternal City " 
on the closing day of 1870. the tunnel through Mont Cenis was 
opened, the work having been completed on the 26th of December. 
Thus, when the brave king placed upon his head for the first time 
the crown of a united nation, he was enabled to add to it another 
star, prophetic of Italy's commercial greatness. The mighty barrier 
of the Alps was pierced, and direct and uninterrupted railroad com- 
munication with France and the rest of Europe secured just at the 
moment when Italy became free, and was prepared to enter upon a 
career of prosperity. 

On the 24th of October, 1870, Rev. W. Clark, then in Milan, 
addressed a letter to the secretary of the "American and Foreign 
Christian Union," at New York, appealing for means to commence a 
mission in Rome, so providentially opened to evangelical agencies. 
He stated that many exiled Romans who had been for years scattered 
among the other cities of Italy w^ere returning, some of them being 
members of evangelical Churches, and constituting a nucleus for a 
Church in that important center. Two evangelists from Milan, both 
Romans, already were at work in their native city, and one of them 
wrote to Mr. Clark, saying: "Thanks to God, there is every reason 
to hope, if I am not deceived in respect to the spirit and tendencies 
of this people, that very soon we shall see planted here a Church of 
Christ. We have great difficulty in finding just now a hall for wor- 
ship. The smallest shops are renting at a thousand francs a year." 



786 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

The evangelist was even asked to pay three thousand francs a year 
for an apartment of ten rooms on the first floor; but he was not dis- 
couraged, expecting that the Lord would send friends with the neces- 
sary funds. Mr. Clark declared his intention to remove the theological 
school from Milan to Rome whenever sufficient means were contrib- 
uted for that purpose. Ten students had completed a three years' 
course, but the class was dismissed on account of inadequate sup- 
port. These young men had ability and experience, and needed 
another year's training to make them efficient ministers of the Gos- 
pel. *'The Catholics of the United States," wrote Mr. Clark, ''last 
year contributed more than one hundred and seventy thousand dol- 
lars to the American Catholic College at Rome, and the city of New 
York itself forty-four thousand dollars, while all the Protestant Christ- 
ians of America, for the work of evangelization throughout the whole 
of Italy, contributed only about fifteen thousand dollars. Now, when 
Rome is entirely opened to the truth, the time is most favorable and 
opportune to establish there a Protestant theological school, where 
pious Italian young men may be trained for the work of evangelizing 
Italy." As will be seen in a succeeding chapter, the Protestants of 
the United States donated in 1872 a large sum to the Free Italian 
Church for the establishment of such a school. 

In the latter part of 1870 the Rev. Francesco Sciarelli, of the 
Wesleyan Methodist mission at Naples, commenced to hold religious 
services in Rome, preaching, like St. Paul of old, in his own "hired 
house." The report of Rev. H. J. Piggott for the entire year shows 
that the work throughout Italy made some advancement, though the op- 
position to it was very severe. The laborers were stationed as follows: 
Northern Division, Padua, Giacomo Roland; Vicenza, Alberigo Bossi; 
Parma, Bartolommeo Gaultieri; Mezzano, Giuseppe Moreno; Spezia, 
Ferdinando Bosio ; Intra, Benedetto LIssolo ; Cremona, Donato Patu- 
celli ; Pavia, Giovanni Annigoni ; Florence, to be supplied ; Asola, 
Gaetano Zocco. Southern Division, Naples, Thomas W. S. Jones ; 
Francesco Sciarelli ; Caserta, to be supplied; Capri, to be supplied; 
Salerno, Giuseppe Carile ; Cosenza, Luigi Girone; Messina (Sicily), 
Giuseppe Spaziante. 

In the early part of 1871 Signor Gavazzi preached in Rome with 
great success. Three halls were opened for religious worship, and 
Signor Lagomarsino and Professor Peccenini rendered valuable aid in 
ministering to the audiences, which constantly became larger. Serious 
obstacles were encountered, and the Italian government did not have 
the courage to fully protect the missionaries. It refused to give 



PERSECUTION IN R OME. 787 

permission that the Gospel should be publicly preached, though 
the sale of Bibles and tracts was tolerated. The Jesuits employed 
spies and secret agents, and both Gavazzi and Lagomarsino on a cer- 
tain night narrowly escaped falling into the hands of these assassins. 

On a beautiful Sabbath in May, 1871, the writer was in Rome, 
and beheld the effects of Jesuitical wrath. He received a cordial 
invitation from Signor Francesco Sciarelli, who had charge of the 
Wesleyan Italian mission in that city, to attend the evening com- 
munion service, but was prevented from enjoying the privilege by 
the state of his health. One of his traveling companions, however, 
the Rev. J. F. Hurst, D. D., now president of the Drew Theolog- 
ical Seminary, was present at the meeting and afterwards described 
the thrilling scene that he witnessed. About two hundred Italians, 
men and women, had assembled in their little place of Protestant 
worship in the very heart of Rome. At the conclusion of his ser- 
mon Signor Sciarelli administered the communion, and was offering 
prayer, when an explosion occurred in the vestibule, breaking the 
glass partition, extinguishing the lights, and filling the worshipers 
with terror. A thick glass bottle containing powder and slugs had 
been placed there, and the fuse ignited. For a time, all was confu- 
sion and distress; but wonderful to tell, though the frame-work 
around the doors and windows was shattered, no person was seri- 
ously injured. On the following morning the pastor sent a telegram 
to Naples in these words: '*A bomb was exploded in our church 
last evening, but we are all safe." The friend to whom the telegram 
was addressed received the following: "A /<2/^r bomb was exploded 
in our Church last evening." Thus the demons who contrived this 
scheme of death, in some mysterious way managed also to manip- 
ulate the telegraphic wires and mutilate the message. The Italian 
government made every effort to discover the perpetrators of the 
malicious deed, and the papers severely denounced it. 

In the Italian senate, the debate on the papal guarantee bill was 
closed on the 3d of May, and the measure was adopted by a vote 
of 105 to 20. It abolished the right of the pope to grant exequaturs 
to consuls of foreign powers, and was an important step towards the 
removal of the last vestige of the temporal power. The bill pro- 
vided for the payment of the liabilities of the ''Holy See," and was 
passed by the Chamber of Deputies on the 9th of May. The triumphal 
entry of Victor Emmanuel into Rome occurred on the ist of July, 
and was an event of thrilling interest. Thousands of people, defy- 
ing the rays of a scorching sun, stood along the thoroughfares, and 

51 ^ 



788 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

patiently awaited the arrival of the royal hero. About the middle 
of the day the thundering of the cannon announced his arrival at the 
railway station. The news flashed like lightning from one end to 
the other of the Eternal City. ' ' From the Piazza di Termini to 
the Piazza di Spagna it seemed as though a general convulsion had 
taken possession of the thousands who crowded the streets. King 
Victor Emmanuel, who wore the uniform of a general, was received 
at the railway station by the Prince Pallavicini, the mayor of Rome; 
Prince Humbert; the Premier Lanza, and the rest of the ministers, the 
Commandatore Vigliani, the president of the senate ; the Commanda- 
tore Bianchieri, president of the Chamber of Deputies; most of the 
mayors of the principal Italian towns, and by all the civil and military 
authorities. The royal party, consisting of Victor Emmanuel, Pallav- 
icini, Lanza, and Prince Humbert, proceeded through the streets in an 
open carriage, all the other ministers and high authorities following 
in state carriages. The whole cortege was preceded by a squadron 
of mounted National Guards, and a numerous and brilliant staff 
came next in the the procession. There were no official prepara- 
tions, no arches of triumph, and no inscriptions, but flags were so 
abundant that the walls of the houses were hardly visible. The 
residences of the rich and poor were decorated with beautiful flowers, 
and in many places the busts or the pictures of Victor Emmanuel 
replaced the image of a saint or a Madonna. This ovation was a 
grand tribute to a noble ruler, and an appropriate recognition of 
the unity of a nation long dissevered and oppressed." 

The occupation of Rome and the liberal policy of Victor Em- 
manuel encouraged the Protestant workers throughout Italy. A 
new agency also appeared in the field, and prepared to gather its 
part of the harvest. In November, 1870, the General Missionary 
Committee of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States 
resolved to establish a mission in the Peninsula. On the 14th of 
March, 1871, Rev. Leroy M. Vernon, D. D., of the St. Louis 
Conference, was appointed superintendent, and, with his family, sailed 
from New York in the latter part of June. He was instructed to go 
directly to the city of Genoa, and make his temporary headquarters 
there, and was advised to seek the counsel of Rev. O. M. Spencer, 
D. D. , an able minister of the M. E. Church, and the consular 
representative of the United States. The committee also requested 
Dr. Vernon to visit the prominent places, and canvass each before 
selecting a permanent center of operations, "taking care not to 
encroach on the fields already occupied by other Protestant mis- 



AMERICAN METHODIST AND BAPTIST MISSIONS. 789 

sionaries, especially those occupied by the Wesleyan Church." On 
the 2d of October the superintendent made his first report from 
Genoa, announcing his settlement there, and the valuable services 
rendered by Dr. Spencer. In a letter to the committee, written 
on the 28th of November, Dr. Vernon stated that he had visited 
Bologna, Leghorn, Pisa, Ferrara, Verona, and Padua, and at the 
latter place, then the headquarters of the Wesleyan missions, was 
cordially received by Rev. H. J. Piggott, the active and efficient 
superintendent. During this tour of observation important informa- 
tion was obtained, and the peculiar character of the difficulties to 
be overcome carefully noted. 

In the Summer of 1870 the Southern Baptist Convention of 
the United States organized a mission in Italy under the direction 
of W. N. Cote, M. D., who inaugurated the work by distributing 
Bibles in Rome and the neighboring cities. At the close of 1871 
Dr. Cote reported that sixty members belonged to his Church in 
the ** Eternal City," and gave the following statement of the whole 
Italian mission: Civita Vecchia — Colporteur, Paolo Gardiol, twenty- 
two members ; Bari — Evangelist, B. Montinari, seventy-five mem- 
bers; Bologna — Evangelist, G. Giannini, sixty members; Modina, 
twenty members; La Tour (Waldensian valleys) — Evangelist, Fer- 
raris, thirty-four members. Dr. Cote held large meetings in the 
Trastevere, but, the room being too small for the congregation, 
an excellent hall was secured in Piazza Navona, in the center of 
Rome. This splendid square is always full of people, and not less 
than two hundred men and women attended the Protestant service. 
The priests were alarmed, and, by instigating the proprietors of the 
hall to prosecute the tenant who rented it, they succeeded in obtain- 
mg an injunction. While the formal proceedings of forcible occu- 
pation by the authorities were going on the multitude in the Piazza 
Navona loudly and unequivocally expressed their disapprobation. 



790 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT, 



Eighth Decade, Continued, 1870-1880. 



Chapter XXX. 

THE GREAT DEBATE— WALDENSIAN CONFERENCE- 
GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 

AN event of great significance occurred in the city of Rome on the 
evenings of February 9th and lOth, 1872. The distinguished 
Canon Fabiani and two priests CipoUa and Guidi, representing 
Romanism, and SciarelH, a Wesleyan Methodist missionary, once a 
Franciscan monk, Ribetti a pastor of the Waldensian Church, and 
Gavazzi, the celebrated orator and pastor of the Italian Free Church, 
representing Protestantism, held a discussion in the hall of the Poiiti- 
fica Academia Tiberina. The question was concerning the primacy of 
Peter, which involved the accuracy of tradition relative to the actual 
presence of the apostle in the " Eternal City." The meeting was pre- 
sided over by Prince Chigi, of Campagnano, and De Dominicis Tosti, 
the advocate commendatore, both appointed by the Roman Catholic 
Church, and Rev. Henry J. Piggott, the superintendent of the Wesleyan 
missions in Italy, and Dr. Herman Phillip, representatives of the Prot- 
estant Church of Italy. Two sets of reporters were employed, those 
of the CEcumenical council for the Church, and those of the Italian 
parliament for the Protestants. The hall was crowded, and hundreds 
went away unable to get inside the door. 

Sciarelli commenced the argument by showing from the Acts of 
the Apostles, the apostolic letters, and the Fathers of the age nearest 
the apostles, that St. Peter never was in Rome. Fabiani replied to 
Sciarelli by attempting to confuse the chronology that even his own 
Church had received by stating that Peter's apostolic mission was gen- 
eral 2.^ was that of all the apostles. He declared that Rome had been 
the great place of assembling, where the fathers and martyrs had 
congregated, and disputes with the heretics had occurred. Tradition 
transmitted to future ages what the Scriptures failed to give, and the 
Roman Catholic Church believed the statements concerning Peter 
which came through this channel. Sciarelli said that the Bablyon 
from which Peter wrote his epistles was Rome, and he would risk 
the prophetic term, "Bablyon the Great," as applied to the Holy 



THE GREA T DISCUSSION. yg\ 

City. Ribetti, the Waldensian pastor was the next speaker, and in 
the beginning of his address he accused Fabiani of introducing insin- 
uations and traditions, instead of facts. Taking up the argument of 
his opponent, that Rome was called Bablyon, he turned it against 
him in the most scathing manner, and concluded by saying that the 
religion of Christ is not local, but universal; that it had no capital 
or center here on earth as the Mosaic law and Jerusalem, but that 
it was like its founder, infinite, spiritual, and universal. 

CipoUa followed Ribetti, endeavoring to strengthen the arguments 
of Fabiani and to refute those of Ribetti. The weakness of his voice 
prevented a large part of the audience from hearing the address, but 
it was given to the reporters. He showed the difference between 
allusion and insimiation, and considered the number and the nature 
of the testimonies adduced. The speaker defended Clement, Irenaeus, 
and Papias, and affirmed that there was abundant time for the Apos- 
tle Peter to visit Rome and form the pontificate there, considering 
the time, the distance, and the modes of travel. At the close of 
Cipolla's argument Gavazzi proceeded to attack with great force, and 
in his own burning eloquence, the positions taken by the advocates 
of Romanism, and showed that the ''Acts of the Apostles" con- 
tained a true, official, and authentic account of the life, labors, and 
teachings of the apostles. He declared, therefore, that if Peter had 
preached in Rome and founded a pontificate there Luke, the historian, 
would have recorded the fact ; for he described Peter's labors at Jeru- 
salem, Antioch, and Caesarea, but not at Rome. Guidi replied to 
Gavazzi, reviewing the whole discussion, and commending the argu- 
ments of his colleagues, Fabiani and Cipolla. He asserted that the 
coming of Peter to Rome was **a fact, great, solemn, and universal," 
and that the life of the Church depended upon it ; and in concluding 
this remarkable debate he referred to the testimony of the Fathers 
of the fifth and sixth centuries and the silence of heretics and schis- 
matics in the early ages. The opinion generally prevailed among 
the crowds that listened to the discussion that the Romish cause was 
damaged, and Pius IX virtually conceded it by prohibiting any fur- 
ther public controversies with Protestants. He also appointed a 
triduuni, or office extending through three successive days, with a 
view to "offer reparation for the horrible blasphemies with which in 
these latter days infidels have denied the presence and death of St. 
Peter in Rome." 

On the 4th of March the first anniversary of the Italian Bible 
Society was held in the saloon of the Argentina Theater, a building 



792 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

in the very heart of Rome, a few hundred feet directly south of the 
Pantheon. Admiral Fishbourne presided, and there were several 
English speeches, which were interpreted in Italian. But the great 
feature of the evening was the delivery of eloquent addresses by Fa- 
ther Hyacinthe and Signor Gavazzi. The former affirmed that the 
Bible was the common ground of sympathy between him, as a liberal 
Roman Catholic, and the Protestants; while the latter speaker, in his 
usual fervent, dramatic, and fluent manner, declared that the historic 
Church of Rome had been founded by St. Paul, and should be re- 
stored to its true character. Ribetti, Sciarelli, and others, spoke 
with great force. 

Signor Alessandro Gavazzi visited the United States in the Sum- 
mer of 1872, to raise funds for the planting of a Biblical college in 
Rome. He reached New York on the T7th of April, accompanied 
by Rev. J. B. Thompson, D. D. , an American clergyman, who had 
been in Italy, and was interested in the work of the Free Italian 
Church. This deputation was tendered a public reception by the 
"American and Foreign Christian Union," and on the 9th of May, at 
the twenty-third anniversary of that society, Gavazzi delivered a pow- 
erful address. By his earnest appeals before the General Conference 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and other ecclesiastical bodies, 
he awakened a deep interest in behalf of the evangelization of Italy, 
and in a short time secured from the Protestant Churches a large sum 
for that purpose. In 1852 he was an exile from his native land, and 
stirred the hearts of the American people by his matchless eloquence ; 
in 1872 he came as a free citizen of a united Italy. 

On the loth of March, 1872, Joseph Mazzini, the ItaHan patriot, 
closed his remarkable career. Since the previous November he had 
resided in Pisa under an assumed name, seeking in the mild climate 
of his native land the restoration of his health, broken by study and 
fatigue after forty years of unwearied activity. He had been in exile 
for a long period, but lived pleasantly in a small house in West 
Brompton, a remote suburb of London, occasionally meeting his 
friends in the parlor of Madame Venturi, his steadfast friend and 
admirable translator. His arrival in Pisa was known only by his 
relatives and the authorities, and he occupied a few modest rooms in 
the Via della Madalena, dining in the evening with the Roselli family, 
who resided In the vicinity. 

In February he was prostrated by a severe bronchial attack, from 
which he recovered ; but on the 6th of March he was again troubled 
with an oppression of breath, which his physician, Rossini, attrib- 



THE DEA TH OF MAZZINI. 793 

uted to the congestion of his lungs. He became worse, entirely lost 
his voice, and in a few days ceased to live. **He died," says one 
who was present, "in a room on the second floor, looking toward 
the south, over a little garden where are a few straggling, sickly 
plants. Extended on the bed of death, covered with a linen coverlet 
with alternate fine stripes of white and lilac, the waxen features re- 
tained the traces of the calm resignation which had never abandoned 
him in the days which preceded that of his death. He did not 
appear as if dead, but like a profound thinker who had fallen asleep 
after excessive intellectual fatigue. In the morning, before the news 
had spread throughout the city, came Corte, Bertani, Campanella, 
Safifi, and Quachio. I saw crossing the threshold of the little house 
the venerable Enrico Meyer, weeping as he went to give the last kiss 
to the friend of his distant youth." 

The death of Mazzini awakened a feeling of sorrow in every 
patriotic heart, and the funeral honors paid to him were national. 
His devoted personal friends accompanied the bier to Genoa, and 
deputations from societies and towns followed, swelling into a vast 
procession of eighty thousand mourners. Commemorative services 
were also held in Rome, the whole length of the Corso being filled 
with sorrowing thousands, who - beheld the bust of their departed 
champion, by whose side stood a colossal figure of Italy in the act 
of placing a laurel crown upon his head. The land which he had 
loved so passionately, from which he had been an exile, to which he 
had returned again and again when he saw an opportunity for her 
liberation, now so far on its road to liberty received back her great 
son and gave him burial. The ideas which crowned his life did not 
go down with him into the grave, but abide for the further emanci- 
pation of the nation which witnessed their birth and development, 
and the steadfast integrity of their great apostle. 

The various Protestant agencies in Italy were rewarded with an 
encouraging measure of success. In April, 1872, the Waldenses held 
a missionary conference in Florence, which continued four days. 
None but mission stations were embraced, and the design was to 
discuss subjects in their interest. Thirty -seven posts were repre- 
sented, and the number of working delegates was sixty-four. They 
presented a fine appearance, showed great zeal, and awakened hopes 
for the regeneration of Italy. Clergymen of the Free Churches of 
Scotland and Italy, and of other religious bodies, were also present. 
Interesting papers, relating to various departments of Church and 
Sabbath -school work, were read by Signori E. Comba, A. Revel, 



/ 

794 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

A. Malan, B. Pons, A. Mellle, and Ribetti. The discussions were 
able, and a delightful spirit of harmony prevailed. 

The Fourth General Assembly of the Free Italian Church opened 
its sittings on Wednesday morning, December 4, 1872, at No. 9 Via 
Corallo, in the city of Rome. After praise and prayer the inaugural 
discourse was delivered by Signor Lagomarsino, the president of last 
year's assembly in Florence, and pastor of one of the largest Churches 
in Italy, that of Milan, containing about five hundred members in 
full communion. The text was Ephesians iv, i-io, from which a 
most correct exhortation to Christian humility was addressed to the 
membership as well as the pastorate of the Church. The assembly 
was very strict in examining the credentials of the deputies, and 
twenty-nine were enrolled, representing twenty-eight Churches. The 
evangelist at Turin could not be present because a revival was pre- 
vailing in his Church, the meetings being crowded night after night 
with people eager to hear the Word of God. Professor de Michelis, 
of Pisa, was chosen president of the assembly; Signor Jahier, vice- 
president ; and Signori Cocorda and Jahier, secretaries. No more 
fitting selection of men could have been made. Signor de Michelis 
is not only an able evangelist of the cross, and a man of great elo- 
quence and deep spirituality of mind, but he has had the advantage 
of a legal education and long experience in presiding over large soci- 
eties of artisans in Pisa, where flourishing schools attest his intelligent 
devotion to the cause of Christ. He presided with dignity, and by 
his promptness and genial spirit won the esteem of all. 

A large number of foreigners attended the meetings, and addressed 
the assembly in words of kindly sympathy and encouragement. 
Among those who were introduced and made speeches, which were 
translated by Signor Gavazzi and others, were the Rev. Mr. Ashton, 
of the Evangelical Continental Society, of London ; Rev. R. B. 
Campfield, of the American and Foreign Christian Union, of New 
York ; Rev. Mr. Alexander, of the American Board of Commission- 
ers for Foreign Missions ; Rev. Dr. Waddington, of London ; Rev. 
H. J. Piggott, of the Wesleyan missions in Italy; Rev. W. C. Van 
Meter, of Rome ; Rev. Mr. Mourges, of the Central Protestant So- 
ciety of France ; Rev. E. H. Johnson, of the American Baptist 
Church, and others. The Rev. John Ker, D. D. , and Mr. Donald 
Miller, of the Scotch Church in Rome, and the Rev. Mr. Waite, of 
the American Church in Rome, were also present on several occa- 
sions. A number of letters were read from other societies and gen- 
tlemen, expressing deep regret at their inability to be present at so 



POLITICAL EVENTS. 795 

unique and historic a gathering, the first assembly of evangelical 
preachers in the "Eternal City" since the days of the apostles. 

On Thursday, December 5th, a school festival was held — a large 
number of parents, members of assembly, and Christian strangers 
being present. The two hundied children connected with the Free 
Church schools were examined, prizes distributed, and religious serv- 
ices conducted. On the following Sabbath the Rev. A. R. Van 
Nest, D. D., and Signor Gavazzi preached in the American Church 
in Rome, and the Rev. J. R. M'Dougall occupied the pulpit of the 
Scotch Church. 

After the adjournment of the assembly many of the deputies 
carried to their homes a photograph of Aonio Paleario, taken from 
an original painting which a photographer of Rome found in the 
Communal Library of Veroli. 



Eighth Decade, Continued, 1870-1880, 



Chapter XXXI. 

VARIOUS RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL EVENTS. 

WHILE serious obstacles continued to impede the progress of 
the Protestant cause in Italy, there were many promising indi- 
cations of the future triumph of evangelical Christianity. Even in 
Rome, some who had been only soldiers of a temporal king enlisted 
under the banner of Christ. In the early part of 1873 Henry Day, 
Esq., an intelligent, philanthropic American, visited the "Eternal 
City," and attended a night service for soldiers, organized about the 
first of the previous October by Rev. Mr. Waite of the American 
Union Chapel. Soon after the commencement of the enterprise a 
young man, by the name of Luigi Capellini, who had once been a 
soldier and a Roman Catholic, was employed to conduct it. He had 
a fair education and some theological training, and found easy access 
to the soldiers in the barracks. By his daily visits, conversations, 
and distribution of tracts, he succeeded in attracting many of the 
young men to his class, which met every evening. After two months 
he had daily at his rooms from fifty to eighty persons. 

Mr. Day, in an interesting letter to the New York Obsavjer^ de- 



796 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

scribes the scene which he witnessed not far from the spot where 
tradition represents the "hired house" to have stood, in which Paul 
dwelt two whole years and received all that came in unto him, and 
where the very pillar is pointed out to which the aged apostle, they 
say, was chained. A short distance from this very house is a narrow 
street called Via Gallinacia. Accompanied by Rev. Mr. Waite, the 
American visitor "mounted a dark, dirty, winding stone stairway for 
three stories. They rang a bell, a soldier opened the door, and 
they were ushered into a dimly lighted, brick-paved room, about 
twenty feet square, filled with soldiers, all in clean uniforms of gray 
pantaloons and blue coats with brass buttons." About forty strong, 
honest, good, intelligent looking young men, all under twenty-five 
years of age, were assembled for the purpose of studying the Bible. 
Some were corporals and sergeants, with small side arms. Many 
were compelled to stand and others were seated on rude chairs. 
"There was a pine table at one end, and in front stood the colpor- 
teur. Each soldier had a Bible, and all were studying the lesson 
together, which was the first two of the Ten Commandments. The 
missionary first read the Ten Commandments, and then read from 
the New Testament our Savior's summary of them. In the course 
of the lesson he had occasion to mention the images of the saints 
and the Virgin Mary, so much venerated by the Catholics, and he 
gave them the views of the Protestants on that subject. After the 
lesson prayer was offered, and then came a free conversation with the 
soldiers. They were encouraged to ask questions about the Bible 
and the Protestants' views of it." 

Opening his Bible, one of the soldiers desired to know how Prot- 
estants explained the saying of Christ contained in the sixteenth 
chapter of Matthew and eighteenth verse, "Thou art Peter and upon 
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not pre- 
vail against it." The missionary was prepared to answer this ques- 
tion, which involves the great fundamental truth or error of Roman- 
ism. He requested the soldier to read in the sixteenth verse of the 
same chapter the declaration of Peter, "Thou art the Christ, the Son 
of the living God." Then said he, when Christ is speaking in the 
eighteenth verse of a rock he refers not to Peter, but to Peter's con- 
fession in the sixteenth verse. "This confession that Christ is the 
Son of God," said he, "is the rock on which the church is built, 
and to which Christ referred." This was evidently a new idea to 
the young soldier. Through an interpreter Mr. Day addressed the 
audience, and told them that the Americans were deeply interested 



THE ITALIAN MISSIONS. 



797 



m Italy, and desired its inhabitants to have the Bible, not caring 
what name they assumed if they read God's Word and obeyed its 
precepts. The speaker directed their attention to a card on the wall 
on which was printed the verse, ** Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and thou shalt be saved," and stated that this was the whole of relig- 
ion. The soldiers were pleased with the address, and in the most 
touching manner expressed their thanks when Mr. Day informed 
them that they should have a larger room. As they went out each 
one came up and, after saluting him, shook his hand heartily. 

At another meeting on Sabbath, a Roman Catholic priest, in his 
black robe and wide-brimmed hat, came in and sat near the door, 
Mr. Day's interpreter, believing that he was a spy, informed him that 
he was not allowed there. He then retired to the hall, followed by 
Mr. Day, who invited him to remain at the servjce, saying that all 
were welcome. At the close of the exercises the priest was asked 
whether he had any objection to such a study of the Bible. He said 
to Mr. Day: "I am a Catholic priest; I have this morning officiated 
at the mass ; but I have no objection to such a service as this. I am 
not in full sympathy with the Catholic Church, but I can not leave 
it; I have no other means of support." When asked whether he 
would leave the Church and engage in Protestant missionary work if 
he were supported, he said that he was almost prepared for even 
this step. Mr. Day expressed the opinion that other priests would 
become dissatisfied with the papal system. 

In the Summer of 1873 the '* American and Foreign Christian 
Union" ceased to make regular appropriations to the Free Italian 
Church, because the "American Board of Commissioners for For- 
eign Missions," having resolved to operate in Roman Catholic lands, 
desired to assume the support of that native organization in Italy. 
The report of the evangelization committee of the Free Italian 
Church for the year 1873 shows that about thirty thousand dollars 
were received and expended. The Rev. J. R. M'Dougall describes 
the general features of the mission work in the north of Italy, which 
he observed during a ten days' tour among some of the Churches. 
He was accompanied by four Protestant ministers, representing as 
many denominations — Established and United Presbyterian Churches 
of Scotland, the Irish Presbyterian Church, and the Congregational 
Union of America. Mr. M'Dougall, who belongs to the Free, 
Church of Scotland, states that the minds of the Italian converts 
were profoundly impressed when they found this deputation "one in 
Christ and one in sympathy with them, and all speaking the same 



798 ITAL V STR UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

language of Christian consolation and encouragement." The visitors 
witnessed various phases of Christian experience and every degree 
of Church progress, and were greatly encouraged. They were con- 
vinced of the necessity of having central, commodious, and comfort- 
able places of worship in every community where services were held. 
The native brethren were annoyed by the landlords who, at the insti- 
gation of the priests, closed the rooms on some pretext. Many 
property-holders refused to rent their halls for religious purposes ; 
and this was not strange, when it is remembered that so large a pro- 
portion of the real estate of the kingdom is in mortmain. 

Mr. M'Dougall purchased a suppressed Roman Catholic church 
in Florence for ten thousand dollars, and converted it into a place 
of worship for the members of the Free Italian Church. The con- 
ventual buildings connected with it were transformed into a school- 
house for the use of the evangelical schools of Santa Croce. The 
evangelist of the Free Church in Rome, Ludovico Conti, reported 
progress in that city. Three stations were occupied, the first, or 
principal one, being in the Via del Corallo, situated between the 
Piazza Navona and the bridge of St. Angelo ; the second in the 
Rione Regola, a little further south, close to the Farnese palace and 
the Compodi Fiore, where Aonio Paleario and so many other martyrs 
were burned at the stake ; and the third in the Rione Monti, in the 
eastern part of the city, not far from the basilica of Santa Maria 
Maggiore. At the Corallo station thirty-six persons were added to 
the Church during 1873, making the total membership one hundred 
and six. On Sabbath morning the average attendance was from forty 
to sixty, and in the evening between one hundred and one hundred 
and fifty. About two hundred were present on every Wednesday 
evening to hear the public discussion, and when Gavazzi was ex- 
pected to speak the numbers usually reached three hundred. The 
two Sabbath -schools contained about two hundred scholars, and 
the six day-schools more than three hundred children and adults. 
Among the many conversions were those of a very learned Roman 
Catholic priest, and of a preacher of the order of Conventual Friars, 
both of whom became valuable laborers in the Lord's vineyard. 

The new college or theological seminary established in Rome, 
mainly by the efforts of Gavazzi, was opened under favorable auspices. 
At the end of two months nine students attended the recitations, 
receiving instruction from four teachers. In the early morning Beria 
taught the many branches of Pedagogia to enable the young evangel- 
ists to obtain their diplomas, so as to be the legal directors of their 



DECREES OF PARLIAMENT. 799 

schools in the kingdom of Italy. Borgia followed Beria, and alter- 
nately gave lessons in Greek and English. Then came the double 
course of lectures by Conti in dogmatic and polemic theology, to- 
gether with an explanation of the fundamental principles of the Free 
Italian Church. Gavazzi closed the daily exercises with instructions 
in "Rational Theology" and " Homiletics. " He was the controll- 
ing spirit of the "College," and soon after commencing his labors, 
said: "I can not but bless God for the resolution arrived at by our 
Italian committee not to lose any more time in opening such a training 
school for our future evangelists, seeing that the result has actually 
surpassed our most sanguine expectations. . . . One of the first 
fruits we have reaped is the weekly preaching of the students in our 
different places of worship in Rome — and, let me say, to the edifica- 
tion of the hearers." 

A significant political event in Italy was the passage of the bill 
by both houses of the Italian Parliament abolishing religious corpo- 
rations. On the 17th of June, 1873, in the senate, sixty-eight votes 
were cast in favor of it and twenty against it. The royal ministry 
struggled in vain to exempt the city of Rome from its operation. 
The majority in the CHambers determined to abolish even the great 
conventual establishments of the "Eternal City," in which the gen- 
erals of the fifty-two religious orders were domiciled, and this deter- 
mination was so clearly the reflection of the public sentiment of the 
nation that the conservative ministry yielded the point. The generals 
of the orders — always with the exception of the head of the order 
of Jesuits — were allowed to remain in their former houses, occupying 
so much of the edifices as was absolutely necessary, until death 
removed them. The rest of the property of the establishments was 
ordered to be sold and the avails secularized. The Italian govern- 
ment also prohibited the making of pilgrimages, alleging that there 
was danger of spreading disease during that season of the year 
when cholera usually prevailed ; but the priestly party asserted that 
sanitary reasons were not those which weighed most in the minds of 
the Italian ministry. When the latter caused the prohibition to be 
issued, the faithful children of the "Holy Father" had already made 
extensive arrangements to visit the most celebrated of the shrines of 
the Virgin and the saints, throughout the Peninsula. The real object 
of these pilgrimages was a political one. Under the pilgrim's cloak 
the form of the conspirator against established order was plainly visi- 
ble, and his staff might easily be laid down for a musket. The priests 
were enraged at the order of the government, and at first made a 



8oo ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

slight effort to disregard it, but failed. The populace, smarting under 
the wrongs of centuries inflicted by the priesthood, could scarcely ab- 
stain from treating with personal violence the ignorant devotees who 
were lending all their influence to elevate the clerical party again to 
power. The patriotic Italians greeted the pilgrims with derisive 
laughter and coarse invective, while the king's gens d' aiuies arrested 
the deluded men and sent them back unharmed to their homes. 

Among other interesting events in Italy during 1873 were the 
publication of an "Encyclical" by Pius IX, on the 21st of Novem- 
ber, and the appointment of twelve new cardinals, among w^hom were 
the Jesuit Father Tarquini, and the Augustine Father Martinelli. On 
the 22d of December this important ceremony occurred in the hall 
of the Vatican, where the consistories are usually held. Death had 
reduced the number of cardinals from seventy to forty-two, and, not- 
withstanding his declaration that he would not confer the crimson on 
any new ecclesiastic until freed from his pretended "captivity," Pius 
was induced to fill a few of the vacancies. 

In the early part of 1874 Signor Matteo Prochet visited Messina, 
in Sicil}% and opened a new Waldensian church. It was a neat 
edifice, and was crowded every evening for a week by many who, 
though Roman Catholics, listened attentively to the proclamation of a 
free Gospel. On the 12th of May the first general conference of the 
Wesleyan Methodist Church of Italy was held in the city of Rome. 
As the congregations were widely scattered, there had not been any 
direct communion between those in the northern and the southern 
parts of the Peninsula. To come together required more time and 
expense than the poor Churches could well afford. This first eccle- 
siastical gathering was, therefore, an interesting epoch in their his- 
tory. Rev. Francesco Sciarelli w^as elected secretary, the same per- 
son who challenged the Roman priesthood to discuss the question 
whether St. Peter was ever in Rome. Rev. L. Wiseman, M. A., 
ex-president of the British Wesleyan Conference, presided. The 
names of seventeen Italian ministers and three evangelists were on 
the roll. Six new persons were recommended as candidates for the 
ministry. The statistical reports showed a membership in the Italian 
Methodist Churches of one thousand and seven, besides one hundred 
and eleven catechumens — an increase of one hundred and thirty-seven 
communicants over the number reported the preceding year. 

It is not surprising that so few embraced the Protestant faith, 
when it is remembered that an almost universal skepticism, resulting 
from the attempt to enforce incredible dogmas, prevailed in Italy. The 



SKEPTICAL JOURNALISTS. 8oi 

avarice, worldlincss, and dissoluteness of the priests had inspired the 
people with a distrust for all religion ; and hence, the Protestant min- 
isters were also suspected of being influenced by interested motives. 
The skeptical journalists easily persuaded their readers that they were 
consulting their liberties in opposing the Gospel. The Popolo Ro- 
mano, in speaking of the anniversary of the Bible Society, recently 
held in Rome, and of Signor Gavazzi's brilliant address on that 
occasion: "The Roman population, not unlike in this the popula- 
tions of all Italy, makes no great distinction between Catholics and 
Protestants, knowing that they are all of the same nature {d una 
stessa farina). The Protestants are not, it is true, in accord with the 
Vatican. But what of that? Is there any intelligent and disinter- 
ested person in Italy \\\\o is in good faith in accord with the Protest- 
ants? We think not, and the reason is clear. In Italy there is no 
religious sentiment ; the papacy has accustomed us to get along with- 
out religion (a fare a meno dclla irligtone), and Protestantism finds 
among us only paid followers, like the actors of the theater." Ar- 
tidoro Beria, replied to this article, saying: "That the Italian press 
should go down into the mire to collect the weapons of Jesuitism 
wherewith to strike Protestantism is a thing worthy of other times. 
Let the Popolo Romano know that Protestantism is too proud of itself 
to undertake making merchandise of souls and bodies. As to intel- 
ligent and disinterested persons in Italy who are in good faith in 
accord with Protestantism, Popolo Romano, we could name them to 
thee by hundreds. If thou pretendest to be truly the voice of the 
Roman people, become not the mouth-piece of a priestcraft which 
is the wound and cancer of our native land." 

On the 17th of May, 1874, Rev. L. Wiseman, M. A., of London, 
assisted at the dedication of a New Wesleyan church in Naples, sit- 
uated in the Largo S. Anna di Palazzo. He preached in English to 
a large congregation a solemn discourse on the words, "For we 
preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord." (2 Cor. iv, 5.) 
Exercises in Italian followed, with crowded audiences on this and 
the successive days. The services extended over a whole week. 
On 'the evening of the 21st a lecture was delivered by Rev. Mr. 
Ragghianti, of Viareggio, on the celebrated Arnoldo da Brescia. 
More than seven hundred respectful listeners heard it with evident 
satisfaction, and frequently interrupted the speaker with their lively 
applause. Professor di Sienna, Signori Sciarelli, Morano, Di Pretoro, 
and others, took part in the public exercises, and in the visitation 
of the interesting schools. The Protestant cause in Florence was 



802 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

greatly promoted by the opening of ' ' the old and historical parish 
church and cloisters of San Jacopo tra Fossi," whose purchase has 
already been mentioned. Rev. J. R. M'Dougall, in a letter published 
in the Christian World oi June, 1874, says: 

"One of the handsomest churches in Italy has been economically 
put in order for evangelical worship, and I am happy to say that it 
has been crowded at every diet of worship since it was opened, on 
the 1st of January last, proving how true it is that with respectable 
places of worship in the leading towns of Italy we may expect the 
Gospel more readily to reach the middle and upper classes of 
society. . . . The church occupies a large space in the annals 
of old Florence. It dates from the year 800. Dante refers to it, 
and the histories of the town give many interesting particulars. 

"The church and the convent were once the abode of the 
fine arts ; but all the valuable paintings are claimed by the govern- 
ment when selling such ecclesiastical property. There was but one 
large painting left in the center of the roof of the church, and great 
fear was entertained that the subject of it might be so pagan or 
popish that it would have to be removed before our dear Italian 
Christians, who have swung away to the other extreme from popery, 
as we ourselves did at the Reformation, would consent to worship or 
to preach in it. But, while removing the eight confessional boxes 
and the huge stone altar, the painting has been left, as it is found to 
a very fine representation of St. Augustine, open Bible in hand, 
confuting heresy, which is seen falling headlong into the abyss of 
perdition." 

The cloisters Avere spacious enough to furnish eleven rooms on 
the first floor for the use of the evangelical schools under Signor 
Ferretti's charge, and twenty-eight on the second and third floors for 
the evangelists, teachers, and other Christian workers, and were in a 
desirable location, being distant from all other Protestant stations, 
and in the midst of a dense Italian population. 

In the same letter Mr. M'Dougall says: "The great event of my 
life is accomplished, and I hasten to acquaint you and other Chris- 
tian friends. I have just returned from Rome, where I have secuif^d, 
through God's mercy, a central and commodious building, in a most 
populous neighborhood, for all the operations of our young evangel- 
istic Free Italian Church. I rather needed rest after securing and 
refitting the old historic parish church and cloisters of San Jacopo 
here, and seeing them, to my immense satisfaction, full of Christian 
activity from one end to another, and free of debt. But the laborers 



VAL UABLE MISSION PREMISES. 803 

are so few, and the work to be done so great, that our only rest con- 
sists in a variation of toil. And I lately had this in an apostolic 
visit to the infant Churches in the North ; in attendance on the 
annual assembly of evangelists in Pisa, where the presence of the 
great IMaster of Assemblies was sensibly felt ; in sending out by post 
to all the evangelists and evangelical Churches in Italy detailed 
printed notices of the blessed work of grace in Newcastle and Edin- 
burgh ; and in visiting our three flourishing Churches and schools in 
Rome, conversing with the two Bible-women, and making the more 
intimate acquaintance of our eight students of theology. . . . The 
building I have secured at a public sale, and after brisk competition, 
belonged to the ecclesiastical property seized by the government, and 
is near the most prosperous of our three Churches and schools in 
Rome, so that we conserve the results of the last three years' labors. 
It is also distant from all other missionary brethren, who, like our- 
selves, are laboring to promote God's glory in Italy. It consists of 
five stories and one hundred and twenty rooms, looks on three 
streets, has two inner courts, plenty of light and fresh air, two good 
staircases, and a superb situation, facing the bridge of St. Angclo, zvJiicJi 
leads to St. Peter s and the Vatican. It will be admirably seen by 
priests and prelates, foreigners and common people, who come and 
go in throngs along this bridge-thoroughfare. It is our very fit, and 
will take in Church, depot, schools, medical mission, and even 
printing-office on the ground -floor and part of the first floor. Up- 
stairs there is a hall for the Biblical college and library, and houses 
for four professors, three evangelists, five teachers, and a large num- 
ber of students in the attics. Our two Bible-women, who work in 
the prisons, hospitals, and abodes of the people, will also find ac- 
commodation." The amount paid for this valuable property was 
about forty thousand dollars — not a large sum, considering its central 
location and the high price of buildings in Rome. 

Rev. Luther H. Gulick, in the Summer of 1874, published in the 
Evangelical Clmsteiuloni, of London, an interesting article describing 
the position of the various Protestant agencies in Italy. In North 
Italy (inclusive of Piedmont, the kingdom of Sardinia, and Liguria) 
there were, according to his report, twenty -four Churches of the 
Brethren, eighteen of the Waldensian, ten each of the Free Italian 
and Wesleyan Methodist bodies, two of American Baptist, and one 
each of the English Baptist and Methodist Episcopal denominations, 
making a total of sixty-six. In Central Italy (Emilia, Tuscany, the 

Marches, Umbria, and Comarca) there were thirteen of the Free 

52 



804 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Italian, eight each of the Waldensian and the Brethren, seven of the 
American Methodist Episcopal, five of the Wesleyan Methodist, five 
of the American Baptist, and one of the English Baptist, making a 
total of forty-seven. In South Italy (the Neapolitan provinces and 
Sicily) there were twelve Wesleyan Methodist and ten Waldensian 
Churches, a total of twenty-three. 

A closer examination of the field showed that one-half of the 
thirty-six Waldensian mission Churches were in North Itah% in the 
valley of the Po. In the same region two -thirds of the thirty -two 
Churches of the Brethren, and more than a third of twenty -seven 
Churches of the Wesleyan INIethodists, were located. More than 
one -half of the Churches of the Free Italian, and all those of the 
American Methodist Episcopal denomination, with the exception of 
one in Venetia, were in Central Italy. Five of the eight American 
Baptist Churches were also in this part of the Peninsula. In South 
Italy the Waldensians and the Wesleyan Methodists of England, 
with the exception of one American Baptist Church, at Bari, were 
the only workers in the field. It appears, therefore, that in 1874 
Protestant services were held at one hundred and thirty-six stations 
and twenty-three out-stations in Italy. Wliile fifty-six of these sta- 
tions, occupied by the denominations already mentioned, were estab- 
lished in twenty-one communities, causing thereby clashing and com- 
petition, 3'et ten of the cities had a population of about one hundred 
thousand or over, three about two hundred thousand, and another, 
Naples, over four hundred thousand. Making the necessary deduc- 
tion of thirt3'-five stations and out-stations that did not represent un- 
occupied places, there were still one hundred and twenty -four cities 
and villages where the Gospel was regularly preached. At least 
seven different denominations were at v/ork in Rome, six in Milan, 
five in Florence and Bologna, three in Turin, and two in fifteen 
other cities. The Waldenses reported thirty-six pastors and evan- 
gelists ; the Free Italian Church, twenty-six ; the Wesleyan Method- 
ist, twenty-four; the American IMethodist Episcopal, eleven, and the 
American Baptist, seven, — making a total of one hundred and four. 
And by estimating one each for the thirty -two Churches of the 
Brethren the entire clerical Protestant corps amounted at that time to 
one hundred and thirty -four active men, or, on an average, one la- 
borer for each station. In this description of Protestant missions 
the sixteen mother Churches of the Waldensian faith in the Pied- 
mont "Valleys" and Turin have not been included, and only 
approximate figures were given to indicate the strength of the 



ROMAN CATHOLIC CONGRESS. 805 

Brethren, who are opposed, on principle, to statistics and reports in 
religious work. 

While this body of earnest men devised the best methods to 
advance the true religion, the Romish Church resorted to various 
means to counteract these evangelical movements. The more intel- 
ligent and zealous members, and particularly the Jesuitical leaders, 
were conscious of the waning power of their cause, and endeavored 
to arrest the process of decay by infusing life, warmth, and activity 
into it. The prominent Roman Catholics of Italy, therefore, assem- 
bled in a "congress" at Venice, to consider what measures should 
be adopted. At the opening meeting, on the 12th of June, 1874, 
addresses were delivered by Cardinal Trevisanato, patriarch of 
Venice, Dr. John Baptist Acquiderni, and Duke Salviati, the pres- 
ident of the congress. The sessions were held in the Madonna 
dell ' Orto, a very remote church, whose doors were carefully closed 
against every one who did not enjoy the confidence of the leaders, 
or, in other words, was not known to be a genuine clerical. The 
subjects to be considered were divided into four or five sections, and 
assigned to appropriate committees or commissions, who were to do 
their work at very secret meetings in the house of Dr. Castagna, 
and make their reports to the congress at its so-called public sessions. 
The reports of the various committees were adopted at these general 
meetings, after very little discussion, and with the slightest, if an}'-, 
amendment — the latter being treated as rather out of order. Among 
the important subjects before the congress were. Religious Works, 
or Orders, Associations, Works of Charity, Education, and the 
Press. Action was taken in favor of establishing more branches 
of religious orders, and especially those of the "Sons" and the 
"Daughters of Mary" among students and youths belonging to the 
more wealthy classes of society, also in favor of employing more 
efficient means to promote pilgrimages to the Holy Land and various 
noted shrines in Italy. 

The congress passed resolutions urging the more general and 
strict observance of the Church holida}'s, the more regular and pro- 
ductive contribution of "Peter's pence," the more liberal support of 
impoverished ecclesiastics, the finer ornamentation of their plainer 
churches, and the greater enlargement of their processions, especially 
that of Corpus Domini. The assembly earnestly recommended the 
establishment of a Roman Catholic university, and the organization 
of academies, seminaries, and colleges as preparatory schools. Res- 
olutions were also adopted, strongly urging the laity to give a more 



8o6 ITAL V STI^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

liberal and generous support to the clerical journals already existing, 
and favoring the publication of other religious papers for gratuitous 
distribution among the laboring classes and the poor. A special 
commission was appointed to prepare an address of congratulation 
and pledged fidehty to the pope, to be presented to him on the 2ist 
of June, the twenty-eighth anniversary of his coronation. The con- 
gress adjourned on the i6th of June, to meet again in Florence in 
September, 1875. 

At the close of 1874 Rev. L. M. Vernon, D. D., the superin- 
tendent of the Methodist Episcopal missions in Italy, made an en- 
couraging report of the work under his care, saying: "From the 
vine-clad mountains and plains of Italy come grapes of a spiritual 
Eshcol. Laborious planting, watering, and pruning has been the 
work of the year, and God has given the increase. ... In the 
stations already established our cause has become more firmly rooted, 
and in most cases encouraging progress has been made. Our mission 
has made its way to recognition as an institution of the country, and 
has acquired a consideration and influence not to be despised. 
Some are looking to it for consolation, for instruction as a spiritual 
home. Still others see in it a field of useful labor, more congenial 
and promising than they find elsewhere. Thus we are called both of 
the people and of providence to bravely maintain and prosecute our 
apostolate amid the tottering temples and waning ranks of the Ro- 
man apostasy." 

At Brescello, a town on the banks of the Po, near Parma, a room 
was secured and religious services commenced by the missionary, B. 
Malan. But this movement alarmed the priests and the faithful, 
and they presented an address, numerously signed, to the syndic, 
or the mayor, asking him to forbid the entrance of the Protest- 
ants, and the erection of a ''pulpit of pestilence." The official was 
willing, but the law restrained him. The populace became excited, 
called the proprietor of the hall hard names, threatened to mob him, 
to burn the house and the preacher, and to club all who attended 
the meetings. Despite the bitter opposition tracts and Bibles were 
distributed, many heard the Gospel, and a few were actually con- 
verted. The congregations were not large, but earnest. The mis- 
sionary at Ravenna, D. Lantaret, reported a few hopeful believers in 
that place, and some hearers of the Word in Bagnacavallo and Lugo. 
At Faenza, a city of twenty-five thousand inhabitants, on the rail- 
road between Bologna and Ancona, Dr. Vernon rented and repaired 
a small church, disused since the time of Napoleon I, who suppressed 



OPPOSITION IN FLORENCE. 807 

it. The inhabitants were very bigoted and intolerant, but the gov- 
ernment cheerfully protected the missionary, B. Godino. The latter 
also preached at Imola and Castle Bolognese, places not far distant. 

In the early part of 1874 Julius C. Mill opened two preaching 
stations in the large and beautiful cit}'- of Milan. The first is in the 
Via Pasqiiirolo, in the center of the city, near the famous cathedral, 
and the second in the Via Porta Ticincse, a densely thronged thor- 
oughfare, and near one of the city gates. The congregations were 
small, but composed of a good class of people. Mr. Mill, the ear- 
nest and laborious evangelist, was encouraged by various omens of 
good. Some interesting conversions occurred at Bologna, under the 
ministry of Enrico Borelli, ''a man of years, of rich attainments, 
and a very instructive preacher." Among the converts was a major, 
who battled with Garibaldi through all his campaigns, and who, after 
a life of incredulity, became a devout Christian at sixty years of 
age. Another, of nearly seventy years, a doctor of laws, and well 
related, gave himself to God, and faithfully attended the Protestant 
services. Several entire families were received into the Church. In 
the suburbs of Florence, at Le Cure, the preacher, Signor Antonio 
Arrighi, proclaimed the Gospel to a fair audience; but, at the instiga- 
tion of the priests, he was mobbed, and his service on one occasion 
broken up, with damage to the house and furniture. The next day 
six of the rioters wentNto jail, and he went on his way rejoicing. ]\Ir. 
Arrighi formed a hopeful society of about thirty-five members, and, 
after the disturbance, selected a much better place of worship for 
them. Leaving them to the pastoral care of Signor Bassanelli, he 
obtained a suitable room in the Via Giglio, in the very heart of Flor- 
ence, and, remote from all other evangelical congregations, inaugu- 
rated a new and separate movement. Dr. Vernon reported that Mr. 
Arrighi had ''rapidly recovered his native tongue, and preaches 
with much spirit and fluency." 

More than one hundred probationers were enrolled, and forty 
received into full membership in the Church of the Roman Forum at 
Rome, of which Teofilo Gay is pastor. The Military Church, to 
which Luigi Capellini and O. Ottonelli ministered, continued to pros- 
per. Services were held daily in two different places, and more than 
a hundred soldiers listened to the preaching of the Gospel. Many 
of these young men were converted and a large number led to study 
the Bible. Two noble-looking members of the royal guard, who 
stand nearest to the king's person and at the doors of the royal 
palace, belonged to the Church. "Thus again," says Dr. Vernon, 



8o8 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

''among the Roman Christians that sakite 'Phihppians,' Americans, 
and the Christian world, are chiefly they that are of * Caesar's house- 
hold !" Efforts were made to find an eligible position for a preach- 
ing station in the vicinity of Piazza Trevi, a central and famous spot 
in the Eternal City. Dr. Alceste Lanna, the missionary, had been 
"Professor of Philosophy" in the Vatican Seminary^ but renounced 
Romanism and became a "genuine, pronounced, and intelligent 
evangelical Christian." The evangelist, A. Guigon, who labored at 
Forli and at Dovadola, eleven miles distant, was favored with some 
indications of prosperity. 

During most of the year an industrious and faithful colporteur 
distributed Bibles and tracts in the Romagna and at the stations of 
Forli, Ravenna, and Faenza. Another pious }'oung man devoted 
liimself to this work among the soldiers in Rome, in co-operation 
with the soldiers' Church. In August a small but able volume, 
\\'ritten by Mr. Borelli, the pastor at Bologna, was published by Dr. 
\^ernon. It was entitled "The Altar and the Throne (Z' Altare ed 
il Trond) : or, the Two Powers combined against the Liberty of 
Thought and Belief." Books, pamphlets, papers, and tracts were sold 
at a very low price, and when persons were not able to purchase 
them, donations were made. Four promising students prepared them- 
selves for the ministry, three of whom attended the Waldensian 
Theological Seminary in Florence, at the same time aiding, as far as 
practicable, the Methodist missions there. One of these young men 
from the seminar}- was assigned to a station. 

The ** annual meeting" of all the laborers of the various sta- 
tions was held on the loth of September, 1874, at Bologna, under 
the presidency of Bishop Harris, with the Rev. Teofilo Gay as sec- 
retary. The Christian cordiality, frankness, and wise counsels of the 
bishop gave consolation to the brethren, and a new strength and im- 
pulse to the mission. Nine of the preachers had been recommended 
and received on trial in the Germany and Switzerland Conference at 
Schafthausen, on the 2d of July, and two of these, Signor E. Borelli 
and Signor L. Capellini, there duly elected to deacon's and elder's 
orders under the missionary rule, were ordained by Bishop Harris at 
Bologna. Dr. Vernon describes the meeting as "an occasion of pe- 
culiar interest," and, in reviewing the year's work, said: "We now 
preach the Gospel regularly every week in fourteen different places ; 
our working force consists of twelve Italian preachers, five of whom 
are ordained, four students, one colporteur, and the superintendent. 
Our members and probationers aggregate about six Jmndred. These 



MRS. GOULD'S BENEVOLENT WORK. 809 

are trophies of grace, sheaves of God's own gathering; and by these 
first fruits we are stimulated to look forward by faith to the day when 
the entire whitening field will come bending to the sickles of eager 
reapers, and the whole harvest shall be shouted home to the gar- 
ners of God." 

The history of Protestant mission work in Rome would be incom- 
plete without at least a brief sketch of the labors of Mrs. Emily B. 
Gould, a devoted American lady. Her husband, James B. Gould, 
M. D., had located in that city to practice among the American and 
other foreign residents. While he was engrossed with the duties of 
his profession, she ministered to the spiritual wants of the popula- 
tion, whose ignorance and degradation aroused her sympathies. This 
noble Christian woman soon discovered that Rome under the popes 
was as intolerant as Rome under the emperors. Every Protestant 
was closely observed and heretical teaching prohibited. Dr. Gould 
and his wife were frequently visited by the police, who not only 
searched their residence, but even brought them before the municipal 
authorities. Hence their efforts in behalf of the Roman people or 
their children were necessarily made secretly. 

At this time the attention of Mrs. Gould was directed to Flor- 
ence, and she soon commenced her work of teaching there. To use 
her own beautiful illustration, she cast her bread upon the waters of 
the Arno, hoping after many days to find it upon the Tiber. This 
desire was realized when Victor Emmanuel entered Rome and she 
was permitted to gather her school of girls in that city. Her first 
school, established in 1871, soon numbered one hundred and thirty 
scholars, who were taught the elements of arithmetic, natural philos- 
ophy, and history, and received daily instruction in the Bible. She 
introduced the Kindergai'ten, to the delight of the Italians, and while 
endeavoring to impart a thorough education in the day-school she 
sought to lead the children to Christ. The quarters where she first 
established her school being too small and unhealthy, she was com- 
pelled to seek better accommodations in another part of the city. 
In the Fall of 1872 she opened a new school in Palazzo del Govcrno 
Vccchio. 

Mrs. Gould had considerable trouble before she obtained suitable 
rooms, being opposed by a secret society composed of all classes 
of men, women, and monks called the ''Society for the Promotion 
of Catholic Interests," whose vigilant agents intimidated the land- 
lords or paid higher rents. The Jesuits circulated the most out- 
rageous slanders against her, which the Romish papers published 



8 10 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

and countenanced ; but she compelled these papers, on penalty of suit, 
to insert in their columns her refutation. While opposed by these 
enemies, she received encouragement from many prominent Italians, 
who admired her benevolent work. The duke of Sermonetta, who 
was then second only to the king in rank, was one of her subscribers 
and earnest supporters. The minister of public instruction called 
on her to express his approbation of her course, and the Princess 
Margaretta, wife of the crown prince, invited Mrs. Gould to visit 
her. The Roman municipality also subscribed to her school. Thus 
sustained by warm friends, including some liberal Roman Catholics, 
this brave and humane American woman prosecuted her noble work. 
Her labors and self-denial were remarkable, for, though in feeble 
health, she was in the schools every day, exhibiting the most indom- 
itable energy and perseverance. But, in the Summer of 1875, she 
retired to the city of Perugia, among the Apennines, to avoid the 
debilitating atmosphere of Rome and to recruit her strength. It was 
too late, however, and on the 31st of August she passed away from 
•earth to receive the rewards of a consecrated life. 



Eighth Decade, Continued, 1870-1880. 



Chapter XXXII. 

RELIGIO US PR CESSIONS PR OHIBITED—A M ERIC AN ME THODIS T 

MISSIONS, 

ON the 1 8th of May, 1876, an interesting service was held in the 
city of Naples, in connection with the opening of a new chapel 
under the auspices of the P'ree Italian Church. The locale is in the 
Via dei Tribunali, one of the most central streets, and the building 
is one of the renowned palaces. Signor Ragghianti, pastor of the 
Wesleyan Methodist Church, Signor Ravi, of the Methodist Episco- 
pal, and Signor Peter, of the French, were present, and the two 
former took part in the inaugural exercises. The address of Signor 
Ragghianti was published in // Piccolo Messaggere of the 25th of 
June, and its delivery is said to have m.ade a deep and most favora- 
ble impression upon the audience. The speaker showed his fraternal 
spirit in **the kind and sympathetic words with reference to the 



RELIGIO US PRO CESSIONS PR OHIBIPED. 8 1 1 

* Free Church, ' which, he declared, now contains all that is necessary 
to develop into a free state." The services demonstrated in a prac- 
tical and incontrovertible manner the unity of all true believers, and 
greatly promoted the interests of the Protestant cause in Naples. 
The pastor of the new Church was Signor F. Lagomarsino. He 
found a difficult field to cultivate, the populace being excitable, and 
under priestly control. When he heard that an attempt would prob- 
ably be made to create disturbance in the neighborhood of the 
church, he informed the city authorities, who sent a sufficient num- 
ber of guards to assure quiet. The same number of the Mcssaggcre, 
already mentioned, contains an item which shoAvs that the Italian 
government is determined to deal honorably and impartially with 
Protestants, and make religious liberty something more than a dead 
letter. In Verona a Protestant patient in the hospital was annoyed 
by nuns and priests, who sought to convert her to the Romish faith, 
almost by violent means. The Waldensian pastor had no sooner 
called attention to the matter in the public journals than the wrong 
was promptly redressed by the director of the institution. 

The Italian government having issued a circular prohibiting all 
religious processions outside of the precincts of the churches, the 
Cardinal Vicar Patrizi published a notice, in which, after reciting the 
vain efforts of the ecclesiastical authorities to obtain the repeal of 
"these orders, infringing on their rights in the administration of sa- 
cred affairs," he enjoins on all the faithful, from that very day — the 
17th of August, 1876 — "to flock in greater numbers to accompany 
Jesus in the sacrament {Gesii. sacramentatd) when he is carried to the 
sick, thus demonstrating that faith is not at all diminished in the 
heart of the faithful." The Italian ministry excepted from the pro- 
hibition the carrying of the Viaticum, or the Host, when taken to 
the sick and dying, merely stipulating that it should be without 
sound of bell. The papal curia prudently submitted to the unwel- 
come mandate of the civil power, not daring to resist. These pro- 
cessions, previous to their suppression, had been employed for a 
distinct political purpose, and were annoying to Protestants, who, 
when passing the elevated cross, or Host, were required to show 
marks of respect to it. 

In the Autumn of 1876 a committee of Roman ladies, among 
whom were the representatives of such noble families as Orsini, 
Altieri, and Massimo, issued a circular inviting the faithful through- 
out the world to celebrate the pope's "Golden Jubilee," or the fiftieth 
anniversary of his coronation as bishop, which would occur in the fol- 



8 1 2 ITAL V STR UGGLING lATO LIGHT. 

lowing year. Gifts of all kinds were solicited, and when received were 
to be on exhibition at the Vatican, while the papers containing the. 
names of the donors were to be collected from all parts of the world 
and preserved in an illuminated album, nation by nation. Such was 
the proposition of the "elect ladies," who urged the attendance of 
large delegations from every country, * * to flock to the feet of the 
great pontiff, Pius IX," and convey to him the respect of the whole 
Roman Catholic population of the globe. The following sentence in 
the "Circular of the Roman Committee" reveals the spirit of real 
man -worship which animated the authors: "Divine Providence 
seems to have averted the inexorable hand of Time from that pir- 
cioits life zvJdcJi in this stoinny era is, indeed, the beacon of salvation to 
the whole Catholic world.'' 

Considerable excitement prevailed in Italy concerning the election 
of the clergy by the people. The liberal party favored the idea, 
and of course the papal party denounced it. In the few parishes 
where the laity selected their own cmrs the prelates resorted to legal 
measures to invalidate the elections and to eject the popular ecclesi- 
astics. While the courts of law sustained the action of the people, 
the Italian government did not definitely accept the principle, but 
temporized with the religious question, disliking to stir up the papal 
curia and incur its deadly hatred by more decided and radical meas- 
ures. The people, less influenced by motives of policy, formed a 
society in 1876 for the express purpose of agitating the propriety 
of electing not only tlie inferior clergy, but even the bishops and 
the pope himself, by popular vote. This association called itself the 
"Italian Catholic Society for the Revindication of the Rights of the 
Christian People." As might be expected, major excommunication 
was pronounced against all the members, adherents, and promoters 
of this organization. One of the ro}'al ministers declared over his 
own signature that, the Italian Chambers having failed to pass the 
reformatory measures he had proposed to them, nothing remained 
but to create a sound public opinion. 

The death of Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli, which occurred on 
the 6th of November, 1876, was greatly lamented by the Roman 
Catholic Church, in whose public service he had spent thirty years. 
His career marked a very distinct period in the history of the papacy, 
Avhen the vexed question of the temporal power disturbed all the 
countries of Europe. As a diplomatist he had few equals ; and, no 
doubt, it was his remarkable tact that prolonged the French occupa- 
tion of Rome, and prevented Victor Emmanuel for many years from 



PR OMINENT CONVER TS. 8 1 3 

making that city the capital of Italy. Antonelli understood the art 
of managing men and solving intricate political problems ; and the 
direction he gave to the papal administration will long continue to 
be felt. The results of his statesmanship were discussed twenty 
years ago by M. About, the clever French author, in his ** Roman 
Question." "A statesman," he observed, "should not be judged 
on the deposition of his enemies. The only proofs we should admit 
against him are his public acts ; the only witnesses to be heard are 
the greatness and prosperity of the country he governs. But it is to 
be feared that such an inquest would be overwhelming to Antonelli. 
The nation reproaches him with all the evils which it has suffered for 
ten years. The public poverty and ignorance, the decline of all the 
arts, the violation of all rights, the oppression of all liberties, and the 
permanent scourge of foreign occupation fall on his head, since he 
alone is responsible for all. Has he, at least, served usefully the 
reactionists? I doubt it. What factions has he suppressed in the 
interior? It is under his reign that secret societies have multiplied 
in Rome. What complaints has he silenced without? Europe com- 
plains unanimously, and daily lifts her voice higher. He has not 
reconciled to the Holy Father one party or one power. In ten 
years of dictatorship he has gained neither the esteem of the for- 
eigner nor the confidence of the Roman ; he has gained time — and 
nothing more." 

Towards the close of 1876 the Protestant cause in Naples was 
strengthened by the accession of several influential persons to the 
Wesleyan Methodist Chmxh. Signor Delisa, after having for some 
time listened to the preaching of the Gospel, became a convert to 
the true faith. His wife, a Jewess, and their family then began to 
attend Protestant services. The reading of the Bible, under the 
gracious influences of the Holy Spirit, convinced her that Christ was 
the Messiah, and she soon desired to be baptized in his name. The 
ceremony, which was witnessed by members of both the Italian and 
English congregations, was solemn and impressive. The conversion 
of Signor Garcia, a stock -broker, also caused great excitement in 
Roman Catholic circles. He was prominent at the Borsa, or "on 
change," and was a thorough typical Neapolitan of the old school. 
All his relations were intimately connected with the papal Church 
and priesthood, one of his brothers being a priest of the curia of the 
archbishopric of Naples. A constant attendant, on the Mass, regular 
in his practice of confession, no one was more scrupulously devoted 
to the saints and angels and Madonna. One of his children brought 



8 14 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

home a copy of Diodati's translation of the Bible, which he beheld 
with horror; but, having been induced to examine it, he became 
interested in its teachings, and felt anxious about his soul's salvation. 
At length he visited the Wesleyan church, and was converted while 
listening to the sermon. He was at once received as a catechumen, 
and became a faithful follower of Christ. A storm of rage and per- 
secution immediately fell upon him and his family, and the priests 
employed every means to win him back, but in vain. Another con- 
vert was Signor Tagliateta, a man of intellectual power, and the 
author of a work on the "Philosophy of Christianity." Though 
ordained to the priesthood, he could not accept the absurdities of 
Romanism, but finally withdrew from its ranks, sustaining himself by 
giving lectures on philosophy. 

The power of the Gospel was manifested not only in the marked 
conversion of these distinguished persons, but also in the triumphant 
death of others, less prominent, though equally devoted. Among 
the latter was an aged saint, who had been led to Christ in a strange 
manner. His son, a house-painter, came to Naples several years pre- 
vious to obtain work, and in a short time received from one of the 
evangelists a copy of the New Testament. After attending the 
Wesleyan church several weeks he professed faith in Christ and 
united with his people. The news of his apostasy soon reached his 
native place, Palma di Campania, and his family was overwhelmed 
with distress. The father of the young man hastened to Naples, 
to save, if possible, the wanderer; but entreaties and commands did 
not move him. To the astonishment of the father, the son appeared 
to be more religious than formerly, and this fact impressed him so 
deeply that he resolved to attend a Protestant meeting, where he 
heard with wonder a sermon telling of salvation through faith in 
Christ. He embraced the truth, experienced its power during the 
remainder of his life, and testified to its comforting influence in the 
dying hour. 

Rev. L. M. Vernon, D. D., the superintendent of the Italian 
mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church, reported that during 
1876 'God had given the work under his care ''general prosperity, 
with some achievements outstripping the ordinary laws of develop- 
ment." The fruit of the Military Church at Rome was seen in 
Grottote, a Neapolitan town of four thousand inhabitants. A con- 
verted soldier returned home, commenced to talk of Christ and his 
salvation, and scattered books and tracts among his neighbors. 
Though a humble shoemaker, God made his testimony a blessing to 



MISSIONS A T TERNI AND PER UGIA. 8 1 5 

Others, and the result was a considerable number of conversions, and 
the formation of a Methodist society. The outlook at Terni was 
very promising. This enterprising city of thirty thousand inhabitants 
is near what Byron and many others call "the most beautiful water- 
fall in Europe," and in height surpassing Niagara. It is three hours 
by rail from Rome, and has large government manufactories. From 
three to five thousand soldiers were kept in this thrifty, growing city, 
and thither Dr. Vernon moved a class from a less hopeful place. To 
these few converts from abroad others were added. Perugia, a pro- 
vincial capital of forty thousand inhabitants, midway between Flor- 
ence and Rome, responded nobly to the labors of Dr. Caporali. 
There were many conversions and accessions, among them the most 
learned professor of the university, once himself the secretary of the 
cardinal president of the noted Roman missionary college — Propa- 
ganda Fide. **Perugino," wrote Dr. Vernon, "made the city famous 
for all time in art ; may Caporali, under God, give it a more lasting 
immortality for faith and righteousness." 

During the year religious services were inaugurated in Venice, 
"the Queen of the Adriatic," then containing a population of one 
hundred and thirty-five thousand souls. Next to Rome, no place in 
Italy is of more interest to an American than this gem of the sea. 
Its brilliant republican history thrills every patriotic heart; and its 
brave defense of the Reformation in the sixteenth century, and the 
names of its illustrious martyrs, will never be forgotten. The evan- 
gelist, Signor Francesco Cardin, opened a place for preaching near 
the Rialto bridge, in the midst of a dense population, and by his 
courage and abounding zeal accomplished much good. At the be- 
ginning of the year Signor Vincenzo Ravi went to Naples and 
preached in "his own hired house." In February a small theater in 
the center of this metropolis of seven hundred thousand inhabitants 
was rented and used for public worship. At the close of the year 
the pastor, "an impetuous, indefatigable worker, and a fruitful 
preacher," reported the organization of a society which embraced 
some persons of considerable intelligence and culture, and a few 
who were in comfortable circumstances. Besides caring for their 
poor, the members contributed to the payment of current expenses, 
a rare thing in Italy. On Christmas fifty were received into full 
connection with the Military Church at Rome ; and the congregation 
at St. Paul's, in Via Poli, also manifested a steady growth. The 
death of Orismane Ottonelli occurred in September, and his brethren 
mourned his untimely departure. This young man was "talented, 



8i6 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 




ST. PAUL'S METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, ROME. 

fluent, studious, affable, and spiritual," and his death was *'an open 
triumph, a joyful surrender of the cross for the crown." According 
to Dr. Vernon's annual report, all the stations enjoyed more or less 
prosperity. *' The way," he declared, "brightens before us. New, 
hopeful fields invite us ; favorable occasions offer ; propitious oppor- 
tunities recur; effective laborers appeal for enrollment under our 
banner ; and our own courage and faith falter not. But we inherit 
Paul's bonds — changed, indeed, but potent in restraint. . . . Our 
Italian brethren have made another year of history, have confronted 
trials, gainsayings, persecutions, and perils." 



WALDENSIAN STA TIONS. 8 1 7 



Eighth Decade, Continued, 1870-1880. 



Chapter XXXIII. 

VARIOUS EVANGELICAL MISSIONS— THE DECEASED KING AND 
POPE^CLOSING EVENTS OF THE DECADE. 

FROM the beginning of 1877 to tlie present time the various 
evangelical agencies in Italy have been making some progress, 
though the statistics do not indicate any marked results. It is im- 
possible to tabulate the diffusive influence of the leaven of the Gos- 
pel ; but there are other striking evidences of the power of the 
reform mov^ement among the Italians. On the 5th of October, 1877, 
the report of the **Waldensian Church Missions" was issued at 
Genoa by the president, Signor Matteo Prochet. The latter was 
born on the 27th of September, 1836, at S. Giovanni-Pellice, and in 
his youth attended the college of Torre-Pellice. He served a year in 
the army during the war of 1859, ^^'^^ '^^^ \^6\ completed his studies in 
Florence. After remaining a session in the Presbyterian College of 
Belfast, he was ordained in 1862, and settled as an evangelist in Lucca. 
In 1864 he went to Pisa, and in 1866 to Genoa, where he labored 
until 1869, when the Waldensian synod elected him a member of 
the board of evangelization. In 1871 he became president of it, and 
has occupied the responsible position for eight years. During this 
period Signor Prochet represented the Waldensian Church before the 
prominent ecclesiastical bodies of England, Scotland, Ireland, France, 
and the United States. He visited the latter country in 1873, and 
was the only Italian representative at the meeting of the Evangelical 
Alliance in New York. 

According to the report for 1877, the Waldenses had stations at 
Courmayeur, Aosta, Viereng, Ivrea, Transella, Torrazza, Turin, Susa, 
Coazze, Pinerolo, Pietra Marazzi, Genoa, Oneglia, S. Pier d' Arena, 
Bordighera, and Favale, in the district of Piedmont and Liguria ; Mi- 
lan, Como, S. Fedele, Brescia, Castiglione, Verona, Venice, Treviso, 
and Guastalla, in the Lombardo-Venetian district ; Florence, Lucca, 
Pisa, Leghorn, Portoferraio, and Rio Marina, in the district of Tus- 
cany ; Rome, Ancona, Naples, Lecce, and Reggio-Calabria, in the 
district of Rome and Naples ; and Messina, Catania, Syracuse, Mo- 
dica, Licata, Trabia, Palermo, and Trapani, in the district of Sicily. 



8 1 8 ITAL V STJ^ UGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

In connection with these points rehgious services were held in nu- 
merous villages ; and at Nice and Marseilles, in France, evangelists 
ministered to large congregations of Waldenses. At the ** Annual 
Synod," which met in Torre-Pellice, in the beginning of September, 
1877, encouraging news was received from the various stations. For- 
ty-five ministers were present, and after the ordination of six candi- 
dates to the ministry, eloquent addresses were delivered by fifteen 
deputies of foreign Churches. 

The report of the Free Italian Church for 1877 is an interesting 
statement of facts concerning the labors of earnest workers in Al- 
bano, Bari, Bassignana, Belluno, Bergamo, Bologna, Brescia, Castel- 
lamare, Desenzano, Edolo, Fara-Novarese, Florence, Grumo-Appula, 
Leghorn, Livorno-Vercellese, IMilan, Mottola, Naples, Pietra Ligure, 
Pietrasanta, Pisa, Ghezzano, Pistoia, Poggio Mirteto, Prato, Rocca 
Imperiale, Rome, San Giovanni Pellice, Savona, Sondrio, Taranto, 
Treviglio, Treviso, Turin, Udine, and Verona. Re-v. John R. 
M'Dougall, M. A., of the Scotch Church in Florence, who for 
many years has been the ''treasurer and foreign secretary" of the 
Free Italian Church, issued his annual address to the friends of the 
evangelical cause in Italy, and gave the following statistical table: 
"10 ordained ministers, 12 evangelists, 39 elders, 55 deacons, 16 
deaconesses, 1,649 communicants, 203 catechumens, 606 Sabbath- 
school children, 1,203 pupils in our day and night schools, 20 teach- 
ers in the day-schools, 1,450 regular hearers of the Gospel, 1,840 
additional occasional hearers, 34 churches, large and small, and 32 
out-stations, more or less frequently visited. The contributions of 
the Churches last year, for evangelization alone, amounted to francs 
1,295.40, while for all objects the sum collected was francs 8,346.36." 

The eighth general assembly of the Free Church was held in 
Florence, commencing on Tuesday, the i8th of December, 1877. 
Signor Gavazzi preached the opening sermon from 2 Corinthians iii, 
17, "Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty," indicating 
eloquently the three kinds of liberty where there is not the ' ' spirit 
of the Lord," and the three in which there is. Under the former 
head were the liberty of nihilism, brutism, and anarchy; and under 
the latter, the liberty of soul, ministry, and Church. Thirty-one 
deputies were present, many of whom narrated the progress of the 
good work in their districts. Signor de Michelis presided, Signor 
Jahier was vice-president, and Signori Beria and Mariani were secre- 
taries. Signor Gavazzi spoke of the kind reception he met with in 
Great Britain and Ireland, when on the committee to collect funds 



GAVAZZI. 819 

in those countries. Professor Henderson, of Scotland, who had re- 
cently resumed college work in Rome with eight students, addressed 
the assembly in correct and fluent Italian. An interesting speech 
was also delivered by Rev. Donald Fraser, D. D., of London, one 
of the three deputies to Italy from the Evangelical Alliance. The 
fraternal spirit of the assembly was indicated by the unanimous 
adoption of Signor Conti's proposal to establish an inter-missionary 
committee. 

The visit of the "Evangelical Alliance Committee" in November 
and December was beneficial to the Protestant cause in Italy. The 
deputies, Dr. Fraser, Rev. William Arthur, M. A., and Mr. Bligh, 
made a thorough tour of the country, conversing with evangelists, 
and holding missionary conferences in Florence and Rome. They 
succeeded in harmonizing discordant elements and uniting the various 
Protestant forces more closely in sympathy and effort, thus rendering 
them more efficient. Mr. Arthur possessed eminent qualifications 
for the work assigned him, being one of the most prominent minis- 
ters of the English Wesleyan Church, and the author of "Italy in 
Transition" and other popular books. This able deputation pub- 
lished a full report of the condition of the Protestant congregations 
in the principal cities and towns. 

On the 1 8th of November Signor Gavazzi celebrated the fiftieth 
anniversary of his entrance into the sacred ministr}-. The event 
occurred on the third Sabbath of the month, and was an occasion of 
deep interest. There was a great concourse of people, as usual, to 
hear him, and the chapel could hardly accommodate them. In the 
opening prayer, alluding to the anniversary, Gavazzi used these 
words: "I thank thee, my God, for having brought me back to 
Rome on this occasion ! Fifty years ago I began here my career, a 
blind instrument of error, in a papist Rome. I rejoice that I can 
close it a free worker of the Free Italian Church in a free Rome!" 

The American Methodist Mission in Italy exhibited evidences of 
growth during 1877. The "Military Church" in Rome was placed 
under the supervision of the English Wesleyans, because, ha\-ing a 
more commodious building, they could conduct it more cheaply and 
efficiently. Dr. Vernon reported the organization of a promising 
station in the beautiful Tuscan town of Arezzo, and the selection of 
a more central and desirable place of worship in Venice. The an- 
nual meeting, on the nth of March, under the superintendency 
of Bishop Andrews, was interesting and profitable, infusing new life 
into the noble band of workers. The following appointments were 



820 ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

made : Rome, Teofilo Gay, Alceste Lanna ; Naples and Soccavo, Vin- 
cenzo Ravi ; Narni, Crisanzio Bambini ; Temi, Daniele Gay ; Penigia, 
Enrico Caporali ; Arezzo, Giovanni Gattuso ; Florence, Antonio Arrighi, 
Eduardo Stasio ; Bologna and Modena, Enrico Borelli ; Milan, Julius 
C. Mill, Silvio Stazi ; Venice, Francesco Cardin ; Forli and Dovadola, 
Amedeo Guigon. The three Bible- women, Amalia Conversi, Adele 
Gay, and Carolina Cardin, were selected to labor respectively in 
Rome, Terni, and Venice. 

The status of the Roman See in its relations with modern civiliza- 
tion was indicated by certain events in 1877. O^"^ the 25th of Jan- 
uary solemn services were held in the city of Rome in honor of 
Gregory VII, the hero of Canossa, and to commemorate, on the 
eight hundredth anniversary, his cruel treatment of Henry IV. Pius 
IX issued an allocution on the I2th of March, in which he threat- 
ened to call in the temporal assistance of such powers as could be 
induced to come to the rescue of the papacy, as against the kingdom 
of Victor Emmanuel. To give effect to the anniversary and the allo- 
cution at least seventeen thousand foreign pilgrims visited the ' * Eter- 
nal City" during the papal jubilee, and replenished the pontifical 
treasury with large sums of money. In July the pope issued a sol- 
emn decree conferring upon St. Francis de Sales the exalted rank of 
an " OEcumenical Doctor," and thus placing his teachings on a level 
with those of Athanasius, Basil, Chrysostom, and Augustine. 

On the 9th of January, 1878, Victor Emmanuel, after a short 
illness, passed away from earth. In the morning he had been visited 
by Prince Humbert and the Princess Margherita, who held a long 
and affectionate conversation with him. The king received the sacra- 
ment from the hands of the Rev. Cavaliere Anzino, his private 
chaplain ; but, though he did not send to the Vatican for a priest, 
Pius IX sent Monsignore Canni, his '* domestic prelate," and Mom- 
signore F. Marinelli, ''Sacristan of the Apostolic Palaces," to ab- 
solve the dying monarch. It is said that the Holy Father declared 
that but for his infirmity he would have gone himself to render the 
last services of religion to the stricken king. The latter was not 
asked to retract any thing ; but he volunteered the statement that 
he died a good Catholic, having endeavored conscientiously to dis- 
charge his duty. The final interview between him and the prince 
and princess was deeply affecting. Taking his son by the hand, 
Victor Emmanuel looked fondly at him, pronounced one word, 
''Addio,'' and followed him with his eyes as he went out crying bit- 
terly. Shortly after the last agony commenced; and when the king 



VICTOR EMMANUELS FUNERAL. 821 

expired, at half past two o'clock in the afternoon, the Marquis Coc- 
conito, Count Panissera, and Cavaliere Ansaldo were at his bedside. 
He died quietly, and in the full possession of his senses. 

The news of his death spread rapidly over the whole city, and 
caused universal sadness. Every shop was closed, and insignia of 
mourning every -where appeared. The ministers assembled in a 
council of state at the Quirinal, and the minister of the interior 
issued a circular to the prefects throughout the kingdom, announcing 
the death of Victor Emmanuel, and stating that his majesty, King- 
Humbert, having ascended the throne under the title of King Hum- 
bert IV, had confirmed the existing ministry in their posts. The 
new ruler issued an address to the nation, declaring his intention to 
"imitate his father's devotion to the country." While the body of 
the dead monarch lay in royal state the clergy uttered prayers for 
the repose of his soul, and extensive preparations for his burial were 
made. It was claimed by some that he should be interred in the 
old sepulchral vaults in the monastery church of La Superga, near 
Turin, where reposes the dust of many generations of the dukes and 
kings of the house of Savoy ; but the Romans contended that the 
magnificent Pantheon was the most appropriate spot for the remains 
of the dead prince to occupy, because he was the first king of Italy 
and the founder of his line. The decision w^as finally reached that 
he should be buried in Rome. 

The funeral convoy proceeded from the Quirinal through the 
various streets to the Pantheon, not less than one hundred and fifty 
thousand strangers and thirty thousand troops of all arms being 
present along the whole route. The sky was overcast and the 
Aveather damp and chilly, but there was no rain. The city was all 
hung with mourning- flags and draperies, and the procession, which 
occupied two hours in passing, moved through the streets in an im- 
posing manner. The king's war-horse was in mourning trappings, 
and the iron crown of Italy from ]\Ionza Cathedral was borne on a 
velvet cushion. The Pantheon was ornamented Avith stately elegance 
inside and out. In the center, under the skylights, roofed with glass 
and iron, was the grand scaffold, with twenty- four candelabra and 
burning tapers on four great altars, and four colossal lions made from 
as many cannon trophies presented by the Due Rochefoucalt to the 
pope. The booming of the minute guns mingled with the loft}" and 
impressive strains of a newly composed funeral march, altogether con- 
stituting a ceremony of more than usual solemnit}^ 

Thus closed the remarkable career of a representative of the old- 



822 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

est reigning family of Europe. One hundred and fifty -nine years 
ago, or on the 24th of August, A. D. 1720, Victor Amadeus II, 
duke of Savoy, having exchanged the sovereignty of the island of 
Sicily for that of Sardinia, assumed for the first time the title of 
"King of Sardinia." But even down to 1859 ^'^^ slender extent of 
the Sardinian kingdom is indicated by the fact that its entire area, insu- 
lar and continental, was only twenty-nine thousand two hundred and 
eighty-three square miles, or about two-thirds of the area of the state 
of New York, with a population not over five and a quarter millions 
of souls. ' Victor Emmanuel II was born on the 14th of March, 
1820, and at an early age received a scientific and military education. 
In his twenty-second year he married the Archduchess Adelaide, of 
the house of Austria, and entered public life with the eventful cam- 
paign of 1848. In the battle of Goito he was wounded; and on the 
evening of the last battle of Novara he became king, through the 
abdication of his despairing father, Charles Albert of Sardinia. He 
was immediately involved in the most embarrassing relations. The 
people doubted him on account of his marriage with an Austrian 
princess; the monarchical states around him were suspicious because 
his family entertained liberal views ; and, more than all, he was con- 
fronted by a victorious enemy. But, despite these difficulties, he 
succeeded in elevating the reputation and power of his country. In 
the campaign of 1859 ^"^^ ^^"^^ Prince Humbert took part in person, 
and exhibited great courage. The prominent features of his official 
life have been given in previous chapters in connection with the 
history of Cavour ; but it may be added that as king and the founder 
of Italian unity he was one of the most popular monarchs that ever 
reigned. He was not a man of great genius, but possessed to the 
highest degree the qualities of a perfect ruler — energy of action and 
wisdom in selecting men. His dress, diet, and habits of life were 
characterized by extreme simplicity; but his private life was not en- 
tirely free from irregularities. He was idolized by the army, and the 
title, "II Re Galantuomo " (The Brave King), will ever attach to his 
illustrious name. 

The people of Italy had not recovered from the shock produced 
by the death of Victor Emmanuel when they were startled by the 
announcement that Pius IX had ceased to live. At different periods 
he had been in a critical condition, and the news of his death was 
momentarily expected, but his remarkable physical constitution ral- 
lied and the excitement in Rome subsided. On the 7th of Feb- 
ruary, 1878, however, the "fatal archer hit the shining mark," and 



DEA TH OF FJUS IX. 823 

the papal throne was vacant. Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti was 
born at SinigagUa, in the IMarches, on the 13th of May, 1792, and 
was therefore nearly fifty-four years of age when elevated to the pon- 
tifical chair on the 1 6th of June, 1846. He reigned almost thirty- 
two years, the longest administration in the records of the Roman 
Catholic Church, and also the most disastrous perhaps, not excepting 
that of Leo X, which witnessed the dawn of the Reformation. Dur- 
ing the pontificate of Pius IX every Roman Catholic country made 
progress in enlightenment, in spite of the opposition of the papacy. 
The "Concordats," expressly framed to prevent the admission of the 
Gospel, were abrogated by all the secular potentates, and religious 
libert}^ practically tolerated. The entire reign of Pius IX was a bitter 
struggle against Italian unity and independence, and for the mainte- 
nance of the temporal power; but he was permitted to reach an ad- 
vanced age in order that he might behold the overthrow of the secular 
papacy and the establishment of Victor Emmanuel's throne in Rome. 
Calling himself a ''prisoner" in the narrow limits of the "Leonine" 
city, the venerable pontiff spent his last days in denouncing the 
"Sardinian usurper." While the Vatican palace was truly a delight- 
ful abode, yet how could he be happy when from its windows, look- 
ing across the "Bridge of St. Angelo," he could behold the humble 
but efficient Bible-depot, like Mordecai sitting at the king's gate? 

The obsequies of Pius IX were celebrated on the 13th of Feb- 
ruary with the usual pomp and pageantry, and in all the cities of 
Italy tributes of respect were paid to his memory. As a man he 
possessed pure morals, noble impulses, and a kind heart ; as a pope, 
controlled by Antonelli and the Jesuits, he fulminated the most 
tyrannical decrees. The conclave which was to choose his successor 
assembled in the Sistine Chapel, on Tuesday, the 19th of Februar}^, 
and the customary maneuvering commenced. Cardinals Monaco, 
Sacconi, and Simeoni intrigued for Billio, a fanatic monk, and editor 
of the "Syllabus," while Billio himself intrigued for Martinelli, a 
meek and pious monk, but a nonentity wdiom Billio had assisted in 
elevating to the cardinalate. There were several candidates, promi- 
nent among w^iom were Pecci and Franchi, and after taking one 
morning and one afternoon ballot each day, the conclave elected the 
former "by adoration." At half-past one o'clock on Wednesday 
afternoon, February 20th, Cardinal Caterini proclaimed from the 
outer balcony of St. Peter's the election of Cardinal Pecci, under the 
title of Leo XIII. 

The election of Leo XIII created great enthusiasm among the lib- 



,824 



ITALY STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT 



eral Roman Catholics of Italy, and was a disappointment to the 
Jesuits. He was crowned in the Sistine Chapel on the 3d of March; 
but as the Ultramontanes threatened some disturbance, the services 
were private. Cardinal Joachim Pecci was born of a noble family, 
on the 2d of March, 18 10, at Carpeneto, Italy, and at an early age 
gave promise of high qualifications for the ministry of the Church. 




LEO xni. 

He was sent as a delegate by Gregory XVI to suppress brigandage 
in Spoleto and Perugia. Having accomplished his mission he was 
made archbishop of Perugia, and sent as nuncio to the king of the 
Belgians, where he became a great favorite. After his return to 
Rome he would have been made a cardinal, but Antonelli opposed 
him. Pius IX, however, appointed him Canierlengo, which office 



LEO XIIL 825 

controls the papacy between the death of one pontiff and the elec- 
tion of another. 

The antecedents and the character of Leo XIII inspired a hope 
that the conflict between the papacy and the Italian government 
would cease ; and the liberal European press predicted that he would 
correct the mistakes of Pius IX, and reconcile himself with the mod- 
ern world. Franchi, the moderate, became cardinal secretary, and 
Simeoni, the bitter Ultramontane, retired. Among the promising- 
features of the new regime were the reception of a deputation and 
an address in which no reference was made to the Virgin Mary, the 
direction to the Italian bishops to obtain the royal exequatur, and the 
''Allocution" of the 28th of March, 1878. Leo XIII also sent for 
Father Curci, a prominent Jesuit, who had been excommunicated 
because he advised Pius IX to renounce his pretensions to temporal 
authority. The expectations awakened by these measures were de- 
stroyed by the "Encyclical" of the 4th of April, and especially 
that of the 28th of- December, which arraigned the Protestant 
Reformation as the cause of socialism. While the new pontiff prac- 
tices the most rigid economy about the Vatican and cultivates his 
scholarly tastes, yet he has not taken the bold step to build up a 
spiritual edifice distinct from civil government, a movement which 
Avould make him the greatest of all popes. 

During the years 1878-79 the various religious bodies in Italy 
continued to grow in membership and influence. In a letter pub- 
lished in the CJiristiaji World, of March, 1878, the Rev. S. Irenaeus 
Prime, D. D., the distinguished American editor and friend of Italian 
evangelization, then at Rome, presents some interesting facts which 
he observed in Italy, and states that through the several missionary 
agencies the Gospel was regularly preached by Italian ministers in 
one hundred and fifty stations. "Since I have been abroad on this 
visit," he writes, "I have more than ever felt the importance of such 
an association as the 'American and Foreign Christian Union.' " At 
the ninth general assembly of the Free Italian Church, in December, 
1878, the Rev. Robert Dey and Signor Antonio Arrighi were au- 
thorized to obtain aid for the cause abroad, the former in Scotland 
and the latter in the United States. Mr. Arrighi is a native of 
Florence, and when twelve years of age was a drummer-boy in Gar- 
baldi's army. He was taken prisoner by the papal troops, but was 
released in 1855, and came to America. In 1857 ^^^ ^^'^s converted 
from Romanism, and at the solicitation of the Rev. Charles Elliott, 
D. D., then the president of the Iowa Wesleyan University, young 



826 ITAL V STRUGGLING INTO LIGHT. 

Arrlghi entered that school to prepare himself for mission -work in 
Italy. After rerhaining there two years he attended the Ohio Wes- 
leyan University, and finally graduated at the Boston Theological 
Seminary in 1869. In 1873 he went to Florence, and labored suc- 
cessfully for five years as the missionary of the American Methodist 
Episcopal Church, but consented to return to the United States in the 
interests of the Free Italian Church. 

During 1879 ^^- Arrighi and Signor Turino, who represented 
the Waldensian Church, visited the principal American cities, ad- 
dressed large audiences, and secured liberal donations for their 
respective agencies. The superintendent of the American Baptist 
mission in Italy, the Rev. G. B. Taylor, D. D., also appealed for 
help to erect a commodious chapel in Rome, and met with a favora- 
ble response. The Italian work under the direction of the Rev. L. 
M. Vernon, D. D., made considerable progress, and received an 
impetus by the conversion of some individuals of prominence in the 
papal Church. The English Baptist mission, with its prosperous 
stations, under the superintendenc}^ of the Rev. Mr. Wall, exerts a 
controlHng influence, especially its beautiful chapel in Rome, in which 
many Italians assemble to hear the eloquent ex-priest Grassi. 

The great event of 1879 ^^ ^^^^ people of Rome was the visit of 
the old hero, Garibaldi. In the early part of April he reached the 
** Eternal City," and was met at the depot by a vast multitude. 
Pale, emaciated, and feeble, he was carried on a litter through the 
streets to the residence of his son. It seemed that he had abandoned 
his island -home of Caprera to die in that city for whose deliv^crance 
he had fought. The crowd, restrained by the scene, did not shout, 
but welcomed the conqueror with silence and tears. The invincible 
leader, however, rallied, presided over a republican association, held 
a conference at the Quirinal with King Humbert, and not only pro- 
claimed for universal suffrage, but urged his countrymen to annex 
the provinces of Istria, Trieste, and Trent. He has lived to behold 
the results of Italy's struggles during the centuries; and as she stands 
to-day, united and free in the family of nations, her sons reverence 
the name of her survivincr hero. 



H 81- ''^-'^ 



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